Models of Minority College-Going and Retention: Cultural Integrity versus Cultural Suicide

Abstract

This article maintains that Tinto's theory of college student retention misses the mark for minority students. With its implicit suggestions that such students must assimilate into the mainstream and abandon their ethnic identifies to succeed on predominantly White campuses, Tinto's framework is faulted not only for overlooking the history of ethnic oppression and discrimination in the U.S. but also for being theoretically flawed. An alternate model based on and Bourdieu's notions of capital and habitus is delineated. A program that instills these qualities in inner-city Black and Hispanic adolescents as they prepare for college is described. In 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education predicted that it would not be necessary for colleges and universities in the year 2000 to provide compensatory education programs or to struggle over flexible criteria for admissions and grading. Though one might admire the boldness and hopes of such an assertion, the reality of the prediction is one of dreams deferred, if not denied, for those who have not had equal access to postsecondary education. Although more people attend a postsecondary institution today than at any other time throughout this century, not all high school graduates are academically prepared for success in college. Large discrepancies, determined by income and race/ethnicity, continue to persist. Broadly stated, the poor and working classes are less likely to attend college than the wealthy. Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are less likely to attend a postsecondary institution and to attain a degree than are their European American and Asian American counterparts. Since the Carnegie Commission made its hopeful prediction in 1970, postsecondary institutions and other related agencies have tried a variety of remedies to increase college participation among low-income and ethnic minority youth. Several significant and farreaching strategies were devised and employed to increase postsecondary educational opportunities and attendance by underrepresented populations. State and federal governments stepped in to provide the financial assistance necessary to attend college for lowincome families in the form of grants and loans. Similarly, minority students who had been discriminated against in the past, or who needed additional consideration to be admitted to a college or university, merited a systematic plan-affirmative action-to ensure equal opportunity. However, as we begin the 21st century, equal access to postsecondary opportunities has not yet been achieved by low-income and minority youth. Affirmative action, if not in danger of outright elimination, came under attack or has been banned in some states, and financial aid lags behind what it once was. Although I support the basic premises of affirmative action and financial aid (Tierney, 1996, 1997), my intent in this article is not to debate the merits of these policies for those who need it most. Even if these approaches were firmly in place, low-income and minority youth would still lag far behind their counterparts in college participation. It is thus not hard to conclude that alternative policies ought to be utilized if access and equity are to remain goals for society. Though they are surely not a panacea, existing alternatives offer an avenue for increasing college access for low-income and minority youth. However, as Perna and Swail (1998) have noted, very little is known about the status or success of these options from national, state, or local perspectives. Accordingly, this article first delineates a theoretical framework for thinking about college preparation programs that utilizes the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1977, 1986). It then describes one such program, the Neighborhood Academic Initiative that I have studied since 1997. Last, it offers a cultural integrity model that might be utilized to develop other such programs and thereby increase minority students' access, participation, and retention in postsecondary education. …