Male-Female Student Retention Differences in HBCUs: Evidence from Probit Analysis of Data from Selected Colleges in the South

This work provides a qualitative analysis of the various factors that contribute to the dismal college completion rates of black male students. We find that Attitudinal variables shaped by the student’s overall perception of the importance of higher education seem to have significant inter-school impact of retention of male students than female students; and a typical black male student is apt to be more influenced by his personal attitude to school, than a typical black female student. Moreover, the variables that indicate the student’s own behavior and his/her perception of the institution’s disposition in providing him/her with education, appear to be important in female student retention, and less so in male student retention.