Nurturing a College-Going Identity in Black Emerging Adults

This qualitative study explored Black college students’ perceptions of developing their postsecondary motivation and aspirations via in-depth qualitative interviews ( N = 14). Use of the grounded theory method produced a three-stage developmental process for nurturing a college-going identity that aligned with the initial phases of the plant life growth cycle. The initial phase for participants occurred during their childhood, with parents planting seeds of college-going aspirations for their children. The second phase of cultivating the soil for postsecondary ambitions occurred during high school, where participants’ self-motivation was bolstered within their familial and educational environments. The third phase also occurred in high school with germinating seedlings that produced concrete college-going plans by delineating potential fields of study and completing college applications. Intervening conditions promoted optimal (i.e., resource access) or adverse (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic) growth environments. Implications include delineating pathways to postsecondary success for Black emerging adults.