Date of Award

Summer 7-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Julie Antilla

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Kristine Gritter

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Jorge Preciado

Keywords

college and career readiness, Black students, postsecondary readiness, non-cognitive skills, self-efficacy, postsecondary aspiration, academic persistence, affinity-based/cultural-based programming

Abstract

College and career readiness and access programming aims to prepare students for postsecondary enrollment and success. The intentional implementation of college and career readiness programming was introduced to address the achievement gap in educational outcomes, including but not limited to: graduation rates, college enrollment, college retention, and viable career opportunities. However, Black students who graduate high school and are not adequately academically and socially prepared for postsecondary education compared to their white and non-white counterparts. Current college and career readiness frameworks lack a culturally-relevant lens necessary to effectively address the unique needs of the Black communities in achieving college readiness. Utilizing Bourdieu’s Cultural Reproduction Theory, this study will explore how to effectively support the unique needs of Black communities, and how culturally-responsive strategies address the non-cognitive college readiness elements that better develop the transferable skills such as flexibility, perseverance, emotional resilience, versatility, and self-efficacy, needed to succeed in both the academic and social settings of higher education.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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