Journal Article

The impact of religion on the educational achievement of Black boys: A UK and USA study

Byfield, Cheron

2008

Overview

Black boys in the United Kingdom and the USA have almost become synonymous with the concept of 'underachievement'. However, many Black boys are achieving against the odds. Whilst the possession of a high degree of dominant cultural capital is widely recognised as a key contributory factor to academic achievement, the contributory role of other forms of non-dominant capital is often overlooked. This qualitative study of educationally successful Black males in the United Kingdom and the USA, involving 40 Black male students from both new and ancient universities, set out to establish whether religion was a contributory factor to the educational success of Black male students. The study found that most of these students were religious and that their church community engineered cultural and social capital and their belief in God engineered religious capital, all of which made significant contributions to these Black male students' academic achievement.

• Publisher: Routledge,Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group,Taylor and Francis,Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subject: Academic Achievement / African American culture / African American Students / African Americans / Bible / Black boys' education / Black communities / Black people / Black students / Blacks / Boys / Christianity / Churches / College Students / Comparative analysis / Cross cultural studies / Cultural Capital / Cultural factors / Cultural Influences / Cultures and civilizations / Education / Educational attainment / Educational sociology / Ethnic groups. Acculturation. Cultural identity / Foreign Countries / God / Interviews / Learning outcomes / Males / Pedagogy / Prayer / Qualitative research / Race / Religion / Religiosity / Religious beliefs / Religious education / Religious Factors / religious impact / Social Capital / Social impact / Social research / Sociology / Sociology of education. Educational systems. Lifelong education / Students / U.S.A / Underachievement / United Kingdom / United States / United States of America