Exploring the Role of American Indian Undergraduates' Social Networks During the Transition to College

Baete Kenyon, Denyelle

Abstract

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI) undergraduates are drastically underrepresented in higher education, and have been the lowest ethnic group in completion of a bachelor's degree or higher. This is particularly critical in SD, because those who identify as AI alone represent 8.5% of the state's population and only 6.1% of the higher education student population. Even more alarming are the graduation rates, as AI students' 6 year graduation rate is 3.74 times lower than SD Whites. Relatively little research has explored AI students' experiences, particularly of those living in the Northern Plains. The present study works to fill gaps in the literature on tribal college students and the role of social networks on persistence and move both the research field forward while shedding light on how to curb educational disparities. The proposed project will characterize AI college students' social support networks via social network analysis. Through interviews with AI and White college students (ages 18-25), on their strongest supports in three categories (family, friends, and institutional-level supports), we will map the strengths of these relationships with a blend of personalized and sociometric analysis. Next we will do comparisons of the social networks by institution (public vs. tribal), ethnicity (AI vs. White), and examine the changes in social networks over time. With this information, we will be able to provide a nuanced picture of AI students' strongest supports and how factors differ for AI students attending tribal college and public universities. Importantly, the second focus of the proposed project is to examine how variations in AI college students' social networks either reduce or exacerbate the risk for drop-out. Using longitudinal data, we will examine various predictors from students' social network maps to predict their social-behavioral and educational outcomes. We will conceptualize important environmental factors such as institutional racial climate using the Ecological Model, and examine the students' outcomes in meeting the four areas of the Circle of Courage Model (belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity). The impact of this project will be critical to increasing our understanding of the optimal institutional and personal supports for AI college students. It is innovative in advancing scientific understanding of the context of AI college students' transition to college, and will provide a clearer picture of the differences between social support at a tribal and public colleges. With support from the cores and mentoring team, the proposed project has great likelihood of success. The results will have many fruitful future directions for research, as well as the resulting policy implications will be significant towards decreasing educational disparities, resulting in greater health and economic equity for AI populations.

Public Health Relevance

This project will advance scientific understanding of the context of American Indian (AI) college students' transition to college, and will provide a clearer picture of the differences between social supports at tribal and public colleges. Through exploration of students' social support networks and college persistence over time, we will increase our knowledge on the optimal institutional and personal supports for AI college students. The resulting policy implications will be significant towards decreasing educational disparities, resulting in greater health and economic equity for AI populations.