The Trouble Between Us: The Gender Gap in College Graduation Rates In the Black Community

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the gap in college graduation rates for Black men and Black women. I ask: Why do Black women complete college at far higher rates than Black men? More specifically, how does the college experience explain the gap in graduation rates between Black men and Black women? To answer these questions, I conduct a quantitative analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman. I created various logit models to discuss factors that influenced the college graduation rates for Black men and Black women. I find that pre-college factors do help to explain the college graduation rate between Black men and Black women. I also find that various factors related to the experiences that these students have within their colleges and universities help to explain the gap in college graduation rate between Black men and Black women. These factors that were most important were academic factors and social experience factors. My general policy conclusions are that institutions can take several measures to improve the college experience for Black students and all students.