Resilience differences of Black Greek-Lettered Organization members and African-American students at Predominantly White Institutions

Abstract

Even though the number of African American students has increased on college campuses, particularly Predominately White Institutions (PWIs), over the last century, they are less likely to graduate than their White counterparts are. They face discrimination, hostile environments, adversity, low or no social or mentoring support, and often feel compelled to validate their intellectual capabilities to White peers in the classroom and on the collegiate campus. The purpose of this study will be to compare resiliency, ethnic identity, race-related stress and educational performance between Black Greek-Letter Organization (BGLO) undergraduate members and African American students attending a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Five questionnaires will be utilized to measure the constructs: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R), College Resilience Questionnaire-Revised (CRQ-R), Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief version (IRRS-B) and a Demographic survey. Based on established theory and previous research, we will test the following hypotheses (1) Higher average student organization hours/per week will predict higher cultural insight/ belonging as measured by the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R), (2) Higher MEIM-R scores will predict higher resiliency as measured by the Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale (CD-RISC), (3) Higher Race-Related Stress (Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief: IRRS-B) will predict lower educational resilience scores as measured by the College Resilience Questionnaire-Revised (CRQ), (4) Resilience scores as measured by the CD-RISC will be higher among members of BGLO's than non-members, (5) Educational resilience scores will be higher among members of BGLO's than non-member students as measured by the College Resilience Questionnaire-Revised (CRQ). The results of this study will help answer the important question of determining if positive cultural social structures support African American students' resilience and success in college.