Building Belonging to Benefit Black Male Students

Often, academe inherently promotes individualism. Many aspects of higher education—the admissions processes, internship opportunities, scholarship applications—lead to competition among students and in turn, a focus on personal achievement over the collective. Such a diminished sense of community can often create a hostile environment for learners—an environment that can disproportionately impact underrepresented and marginalized students negatively.

Black male students, for example, are critically harmed by this culture of individualism, as reflected in their success rates, especially at predominantly or historically white institutions. Black male students received just 9 percent of the bachelor’s degrees that colleges and universities conferred to men in 2020–21, compared to white male students, who received 62 percent. And a key reason may be because many Black students, especially men, struggle to feel as if they are an important part of their institution’s community—that they, in fact, truly belong on the campus. (Please note that I recognize that not all men are biologically male and use the term to refer to gender and not sex. I also want to acknowledge that while this essay focuses on Black students, trans students and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community face similar issues regarding feelings of belonging in higher education.)

The degree to which a student senses they belong at a higher education institution correlates with how much they feel respected, acknowledged, cared for and valued. That sense of belonging, in turn, contributes to students’ increased engagement in their academics, their comfort in seeking assistance from campus resources and ultimately their graduation. But, unfortunately, because Black men are less represented in student bodies and throughout the ranks of faculty and administrators, it can be especially difficult for them to obtain such a sense of belonging.

In addition, research shows that Black men respond better to the support of constellation mentorship, or a team of multiple mentors who can meet their various needs, including academic and mental health support and career advisement and development. But again, while it can take a village to help these students succeed, they often don’t have access to such extensive support.

Many institutions have responded to the disproportionate success rates of Black male students by supporting and encouraging targeted, culturally representative groups like Developing Men of Color at Virginia Commonwealth University. As these groups are led by and centered on Black male students specifically, they have been successful in not only providing opportunities for mentorship, but also in doing so without the concern of cultural responsiveness and engagement.

However, that is just one isolated effort to address the larger issues of the systemic racism and focus on the individualism frequently found in higher education. Such groups are important, and predominantly and historically white institutions should continue to fund and support them, but those institutions should also invest in building community far more extensively throughout their curricular and extracurricular offerings. Such an investment would benefit not only Black male students but also many other students with various backgrounds, identities and intersectionalities—including those who may be falling through the cracks without notice.

It should be acknowledged, as well, that the culture of individualism and competition that pervades academe pits faculty members against one another as they attempt to move up. Moreover, it often contributes to intimidation and the gatekeeping of information, access, privilege and power from minority faculty members. This culture perpetuates a hostile environment on campuses that can also negatively impact underrepresented and marginalized students.

Higher education can and must do better. DEI training is not enough. Faculty, staff and senior administrators at predominantly and historically white institutions must build community and connect with diverse students to understand their experiences and enhance their sense of safety and belonging. Here are a few ways they can begin that process.

For Faculty and Staff

• Create collaborative assignments where students help one another beyond group work. Also consider requiring peer review and brainstorming within assignments. Be mindful when creating groups to ensure people are being exposed to diverse thoughts and ideas without tokenizing minority students. Diversity in groups should not be prioritized in a way that alienates minority students, as this furthers the concepts of whiteness as the norm and minority groups as homogeneous.
• Invite students to tell their stories. In recent semesters, instead of asking students to simply introduce themselves and provide basic information on the first day of class, I’ve begun asking them to share the story of how they got their name. That has significantly increased their engagement with each other and me as the instructor.
• Participate in the Faculty Approachability Project. This project seeks to increase community in the classroom and faculty connections with students. It focuses on helping faculty members create supportive experiences for students and provide direct assistance or referrals to other campus resources to help them resolve issues.
• Construct syllabi and courses through an equitable and culturally responsive perspective. This includes questioning the sources of your course material, incorporating perspectives from diverse field experts and using welcoming language that can help to alleviate students’ anxiety about the course even before the first day of class.
• Co-create classroom norms with your students. This simple act of giving students more agency over their classroom experience allows those who are marginalized or less represented in higher education, like Black male students, to feel included and respected in the classroom.
• Engage in group advising to create opportunities for peer connection. Working as an adviser with a small number of students can provide them with a more informal setting than the classroom, where they can share their general experiences in college and connect with their peers.

For Higher Education Leaders

• Collect data on how much students feel understood and use those data to guide institutional efforts to create a greater sense of belonging for students. Such surveys can be relatively simple and include questions like, “Do you know your academic adviser’s name?” or “Do you feel like your professors care about your success?” Leaders should celebrate where the data show the college is succeeding at building community, while creating intentional interventions in areas that signify improvement is needed.
• Communicate to every member of the college that they are part of the campus community. Many students, especially first-generation ones, interact with facilities staff, dining hall workers and other nonacademic employees that contribute to their village on the campus. Higher education leaders should include those nonacademic staff members in conversations about building a sense of belonging among students. They should also recognize the work such employees do to contribute to creating such an inclusive and welcoming environment for students.
• Acknowledge and reward faculty members who especially connect with students. Students are more likely to approach women and BIPOC faculty members for assistance in their education, which contributes to those faculty carrying a heavier load of invisible labor. Acknowledge that work in the same way you do teaching and research.
• Celebrate Black voices on campus through marketing, campus events and official communications. Don’t just highlight Black student groups, faculty and student representatives at admissions events. (Are you relying on the same faculty members or students to represent Black voices on campus? If so, it might be time to investigate how diverse the faculty makeup and student body actually are.) Instead, incorporate programming and events throughout the year that celebrate Black scholars and speak to the experience of Black students on your campus. Brightpoint Community College’s Visions & Voices: Celebrating the African-American Male was a series based on Black Minds Matter by J. Luke Wood, which highlighted Black men who have excelled in their academic journey and their career fields. It lasted an entire academic year, with multiple opportunities to attend available to faculty and staff members.

Finally, of course, work to hire more Black male faculty, Black faculty in general and faculty from other marginalized identities to increase diversity among instructors. Of the full-time faculty members at degree-granting higher education institutions in fall 2023, 73 percent were white, while just 4 percent were Black women and 3 percent were Black men.

Creating community in higher education institutions will benefit staff, faculty and students. As members of academic institutions, it is our responsibility to ensure we are building a sense of belonging among our students, especially Black and BIPOC students who are struggling the most. When we help those confronting the greatest barriers, the entire community benefits.