"Thinking about Makin' It": Black Canadian Students' Beliefs Regarding Education and Academic Achievement

Black Canadians share many aspects of the historical experiences of African Americans, but there are also important differences. One similarity between these two groups is the persistent academic underachievement of Black adolescents. Although this is a subject of widespread concern in both countrie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 2005-08, Vol.34 (4), p.347-359
Main Authors: Smith, Andrea, Schneider, Barry H, Ruck, Martin D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Academic Aspiration
Academic underachievement
Achievement tests
Adolescents
African American Children
African American Students
African Americans
Attitudes
Beliefs
Biological and medical sciences
Black Canadian people
Black Canadians
Black people
Black students
Blacks
Canada
Children & youth
Comparative Education
Diversity
Education
Educational Attainment
Educational psychology
Families & family life
Foreign Countries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Differences
High School Students
Ideology
Immigration
Influence
Males
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority Groups
Minority students
Nova Scotia
Parent Influence
Parents & parenting
Peers
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure
School dropouts
Secondary school students
Secondary schools
Social capital
Sociodemographics
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic Status
Student Attitudes
Success
Toronto, Ontario
Underachievement
USA
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Summary:Black Canadians share many aspects of the historical experiences of African Americans, but there are also important differences. One similarity between these two groups is the persistent academic underachievement of Black adolescents. Although this is a subject of widespread concern in both countries, it has received little empirical scrutiny in Canada. We address this shortcoming by examining the academic and achievement-related beliefs of Black high school students in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Halifax. Despite significant regional differences most participants believed that schooling could lead to success for them. Females' attitudes and beliefs regarding education were more positive than those of males. Perceived parental values and support were strong predictors of participants' attitudes and school marks; socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived peer support were non-significant correlates of academic outcomes. We discuss the results in terms of the germane US research, and highlight the implications of the findings for understanding diversity among Black Canadian youth.
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1007/s10964-005-5759-0