Pushing Toward Progress: Early Implementation Findings from the Male Student Success Initiative

The study uses a mixed-methods approach to measure the effects of Male Student Success Initiative (MSSI) on the persistence and degree completion of male students of color. This project includes an impact study to test these effects, an implementation study to understand how MSSI operates and how its program components are executed, a cost study to analyze the costs associated with operating MSSI, and a student voices qualitative study to understand how the backgrounds and experiences of male students of color impact their college career.

Research points to several broad factors to explain unequal national college completion outcomes for men of color at open- and broad-access postsecondary institutions (including community colleges), including precollege environments that do not sufficiently prepare them for college, nonacademic barriers that compete for students’ time and attention, and inadequate college campus support. The Male Student Success Initiative (MSSI) program model provides an ambitious set of services to support male students of color, including a culturally contextualized first-year student success course, assigned mentors (who are also men of color), connections with student support services on campus, leadership and professional development opportunities, and a focus on community building through activities that reflect racial and ethnic identities.

In future reports, the authors plan to capture additional program implementation data to monitor adaptations in the program and student participation in each component. The researchers will also continue to study the overall college environment at CCBC, paying particular attention to changes resulting from the college’s equity and inclusion goals. Additional student interviews will be conducted to learn more about student experiences in and outside of the program. Student enrollment in the study is anticipated to continue until fall 2021. A final report will present the full implementation story, program costs over the life of the study, and program impacts on academic outcomes such as persistence beyond the first year and number of credits earned. The study will also share findings through the College Completion Network, a group of postsecondary education researchers contributing to the existing evidence on college completion and college success.

Important insights from this early period of program implementation are:

• The college designed a multifaceted program to engage male students of color and enhance their experiences while addressing their unique needs.
• There was a limited set of resources to support the program in 2019 and program leadership had little available time to oversee the program.
• The college struggled to implement MSSI consistently. For example, MSSI staff members reported inconsistent approaches to communicating and working with students, which may have resulted in lower-than-expected student attendance in various program components.
• Despite these shortcomings, there are recent indications of stronger implementation. The college increased support for MSSI over time, and program staff members made notable efforts to strengthen its components.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2020
• Author(s): M. Manno, D. Dukes, O. Cerna, C. Hill
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education, William T. Grant Foundation
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies