The influences of parent, peer, demographic, and cultural factors on Black Canadian students' academic performance and attitudes toward school

grantor: University of TorontoThe influence of parental, cultural, peer, and demographic variables on the academic outcomes of Black Canadian students was examined. A total of 430 students from Toronto and Halifax participated. The students responded to questions about parental educational support, e.g., their parents' aspirations for them and the emphasis their parents placed on education. They also responded to questions asking about their peers' support for academics, as well as to questions about culturally shaped beliefs as they related to education, e.g., their belief that education will lead to later life success, and their beliefs about the possibility of Blacks attaining success in Canadian society. Finally, they reported their own educational outcomes, i.e., their average mark on their last report card, their educational aspirations and expectations, and how much they valued academic success. A series of MANOVAs and an ANOVA were used to examine regional (Toronto versus Halifax) and gender differences in parental and peer support, academic outcomes, and cultural beliefs/attitudes. The analyses revealed that female and Toronto students reported greater peer and parental educational support and more positive academic outcomes than did male and Halifax students, respectively. When cultural beliefs/attitudes were examined, it was found that female and Toronto students expressed more educationally affirming cultural beliefs/attitudes than did male and Halifax students, respectively. Regression analyses were carried out to determine how well the parental, peer, cultural, and demographic variables predicted the educational outcomes of the students. The set of predictors significantly predicted all four educational outcomes, with the parent variables being the strongest. In general, the observed gender and regional differences in educational outcomes were statistically explained in part by parental educational support. The results of the study indicate that, in general, Black students highly value education and that they have high educational aspirations and expectations for themselves. They also are optimistic about their chance for success in Canada, especially when armed with an education.Ph.D