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Article Excerpt
Research, utilizing a nationally representative sample of 3,712 Americans, revealed that Greek-letter membership increases the probability of college graduation more for African Americans than for European Americans. Conversely, father's education is a more robust predictor of educational outcomes for European Americans compared to their African American counterparts.
Keywords: race, college graduation, Greek-letter membership, African Americans, educational outcomes
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College graduation rates for African American students lag behind their European American counterparts (U.S Census Bureau, 2000). Of the U.S. population 25 years of age and older, a little over twenty-eight percent of non-Hispanic European Americans have earned a Bachelor's degree, compared to roughly sixteen percent of non-Hispanic African Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Such racial disparities in educational achievement are often associated with differences in background socioeconomic status (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994; Corcoran, 1995; Hochschild, 2003). Research indicates that racial minorities are disproportionately more likely to be from families with few economic resources to invest in their schooling and to live in neighborhoods with failing schools (Corcoran, 1995; Kao & Thompson, 2003). The result is that minorities are less likely than whites to perform well in secondary schooling, and hence, face greater obstacles to achieving success in college. Nevertheless, even holding constant economic indicators, African Americans are still less likely to obtain a college degree compared to their European American counterparts (Corcoran, 1995; Kalmijn & Kraaykamp, 1996; Smith, 1989). Therefore, in addition to observing socioeconomic resources, researchers have found it useful to consider other routes to educational success, including the use of social networks or social capital (Coleman, 1990; Parcel & Dufur, 2001). In this paper, we assess whether membership in Greek social organizations may be one route that African Americans may use to boost the probability that they will graduate from college.
Some research has reported that membership in Greek organizations increases graduation rates from six to nine percent above non-members (Astin, 1985). What is unknown is whether the impact of the benefits of fraternity and sorority life varies by race. Given the disadvantage that African Americans face with regard to educational attainment, pinpointing whether and how membership in Greek-letter organizations may contribute to educational success for this group is an important endeavor. There is reason to believe that such associations may have an impact on the college graduation rates of African American students. For example, Whipple, Baier and Grady (1991) found that while European American Greek members have parents with higher income and education that African American Greek members have higher levels of academic motivation. Such motivation in combination with the social networks developed through membership may very well allow African Americans to remain in college and graduate (Whipple et al., 1991).
In exploring the relationships among educational attainment, membership in Greek-letter organizations, and race, this research improves on prior research in at least two important ways. First, the majority of studies on Greek-letter organizations has focused on predominantly white samples and has been unable to investigate racial differences that may be associated with fraternity and sorority life. Second, many studies on the effects of Greek-letter organization membership on various outcomes have been restricted to small, localized samples (for an exception see Pike, 2003). While these studies with smaller samples are able to elucidate the impact of Greek life at specific institutions (see e.g., Samter, 1992), the findings may not be generalizable to the larger population of Greek-letter organizations. To address these two issues, we employed nationally representative data of the U.S. population that offers enough racial variation to make racial comparisons. Further, by virtue of the representativeness of the sample, the respondents' undergraduate institutions included a wide range of private, public, small and large educational institutions.
Background
Social capital theory guides this research. Social capital is often developed through membership in organizations and resides in relationships among actors that "... are useful for the cognitive and social development of [youth] ..." (Coleman, 1990, p.300). Coleman (1988, 1990) in his well-known theory of social capital outlines three types of resources (or capital) that may be invested in individuals and that encourage educational attainment: 1) human capital (i.e., years of schooling and cognitive ability); 2) financial capital (i.e., income and other economic resources used to pay for education); and 3) social capital (i.e., relationships developed in families and organizations that are useful for social and academic development). While this research focuses on Greek-letter organizations as sources of social capital, the analysis below controls for both human and financial capital. All three types of capital are positively correlated (Parcel & Dufur, 2001). Individuals with higher human and financial capital have greater access to higher levels of social capital.
Greek-letter fraternities and sororities are voluntary organizations. The ways in which such organizations operate and maintain their membership base builds collectively-owned social capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Brewer, 2003; Foley & Edwards, 1999). That is, the social capital intrinsic to Greek-letter organizations benefits both the individual and the collective. The individual may gain resources through this association that makes possible achievement that otherwise would not happen. The organization is then strengthened by its members' accomplishments and their ability to generate more social capital and resources that will maintain the organization. These groups close their social networks to non-members and create high levels of obligation and trust within the group. These dynamics lead to more robust connections among members and loyalty to the organization (Putnam, 1995, 2000).
Perhaps the primary expression of social capital in Greek-letter organizations is increased involvement in the college community (Lounsbury & DeNeul, 1995; Requena, 2003). For instance, research indicates that living in Greek-letter housing increases involvement in both academic and extracurricular activities (Lounsbury & DeNeul, 1995; Pike, 2003). The building of these social ties across college entities appears to play a positive role in educational progress (Astin, 1985).
Does membership in Greek-letter organizations in and of itself provide the necessary social capital to propel academic achievement and college completion? Surprisingly few contemporary research studies have addressed this specific question (for an exception see Whipple et al., 1991). Indeed, early research on the academic performance of Greek members yielded mixed findings. For example, Bradshaw and Kahoe (1967) found that Greek freshmen had a...
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