A comparison of the self-esteem of African American students at a predominately black college versus African American students at a predominately white university.

Abstract

Race in the latter part of the 20th century still continues to play a major role in the lives of many African Americans within this country. Simply being of African American ancestry means that one is more likely to have negative experiences and be faced with unpleasant situations that could have an adverse effect on self esteem. But does this sort of thing hold true in the university environment? If so, how might the self-esteem of African American college students be affected depending upon what type of institution (predominately Black, predominately White) they chose to attend? Traditionally, within this country, higher education has been considered to be "different" or "set apart" or "insulated" from society in general. This is the "ivory tower" mentality. This concept holds that somehow the university environment is different, or better, than society in general. Is this true? This study was designed to compare the self-esteem of African American college students at a predominantly Black college and a predominantly White university. Fifty students from a small Midwestern university, and 47 students from a small Southern college volunteered to participate. The Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory-Adult Form (SEI-A) and a demographics questionnaire were administered. It was hypothesized that (a) African American students who attended a predominately Black college would have higher self-esteem than those who attended a predominately White university, (b) African American men and women would not differ significantly with regard to self-esteem, and (c) upperclassmen would have higher self-esteem than underclassmen. To determine significance, a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. School (Rust College or Emporia State University), Gender (men or women), and Classification (underclassmen or upperclassmen) were the between subjects independent variables, and the overall score on the SEI-A was the dependent variable. The data indicate neither school, gender, or classification affected the self-esteem of African American college students. No significant main effects or interactions were found for the between subjects independent variables of school, gender, or classification on the total SEI-A score. There are several possible reasons for these results. One, African American self-esteem is more likely to be influenced by significant others within one's own environment. Usually, this means other African Americans. Second, it is not clear what reference groups men and women use when evaluating the self, nor is it clear how the self-esteem of men and women differ across reference groups. Thus, a null finding with regard to self-esteem differences does not mean that no differences exist. Third, there is no evidence to indicate that self-esteem and age are positively correlated. The reason for this is that self-esteem could just as easily decrease as one ages. In addition to these results, implications for future research were also provided.