Race, Class, Gender and Community College Persistence Among African American Women

This inquiry is an exploration of the educational trajectories of African American women community college students. We compare the persistence of African American women to African American men and to all women college students using the 1996/2001 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Survey and the 1993/2003 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Survey. We find that the propensity of African American women to enroll notwithstanding, African American women attending community colleges are less likely to graduate than their African American male peers and than their female peers. However, we also find that African American women who start at community colleges and complete a Bachelor degree are similar to African American men and all women who pursue graduate degrees. This implies that greater attention to the trajectories of African American women through the community college is warranted as the majority of those entering postsecondary education do so at the community college. Assisting these women in succeeding in community colleges and in transferring is critical because Bachelor degree attainment is key to ensuring equitable outcomes.