Many elementary and secondary teachers across the United States have shared and heard stories about their African American male students overwhelmingly dreaming of futures filled with the fame and fortune offered by careers in professional athletics and entertainment. While these are honorable careers that students understandably find attractive, some teachers are routinely perplexed by the overwhelming number of young men who profess an interest and the apparent disengagement these particular goals seem to create between the young men and the larger curriculum of school. Perhaps this would not be of such great concern if the academic achievement data for African American male students was not so dire.
The national graduation rate of African American male students has been persistently lower than European American male students or their African American female counterparts. This trend can be seen at the state and national level. In their 2010 report, “Diplomas Count 2010: Graduation by the Numbers”, Education Weekly reported that the 2007 national graduation rate was 69%. The national graduation rate for African American students was 54% compared to 77% for European American students. The Schott Foundation (2010) reports more detailed information about black male students. In their Equity Index they show that in the state of Ohio where this study was conducted the graduation rate for African American males is 49% compared to 79% for European American male students.
This study explores whether African American males are aspiring to careers in sports and entertainment at a higher rate than their European American counterparts and whether those career aspirations are related to their engagement in school. All freshmen males at two urban high school in a mid-sized Midwestern city were asked to complete a questionnaire about career aspirations. There were 137 freshmen at both high schools who completed the questionnaire. While the results of the study were mixed, there was partial support for the hypothesis that African American male students aspired in greater proportions to careers in sports and entertainment. There was no support for the hypothesis of a relationship of career aspirations with school engagement.