ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8209-6110

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Administrative and Instructional Leadership

First Advisor

Richard F. Bernato

Second Advisor

James R. Campbell

Third Advisor

Anthony J. Annunziato

Abstract

While the United States may be progressing, second-generation Caribbean American men, those with at least one foreign-born parent (US Census Bureau, 2016), are a population that, despite literature addressing benefits and detriments of their cultural experiences, still warrants continued examination through empirical testing (Lyttle et al., 2011). These students have a range of factors that make them nontraditional students. Challenges such as racism, sexual and ethnic identity, and generational status in this country can be compounded when cultural perspectives of immigrant families are factored in. Caribbean American men are guided by learned behaviors and cultural traditions that influence training and long-established education, specifically surrounding their perceptions of women, Black Americans, and themselves. Structures such as institutional racism and hegemony play heavily in the hierarchy of the higher educational system. These constructs impact the sense of belonging of the target population (Moore & Barker, 2012). The researcher will use phenomenology as the qualitative methodology to examine the perspectives of second-generation Caribbean American males in higher education regarding barriers to success, while infusing personal experiences from learner, teacher, to administrator and apply it to the barriers faced. Through the use of interview, focus groups, and use of documents as a part of qualitative research methods, the researcher will examine the barriers to success of second-generation Caribbean American men in higher education. For this study, success at the student level entails completion of an undergraduate degree in five years or fewer. At the administrative level, success encompasses employment at an accredited institution with employee evaluations that are satisfactory or above. Higher education is education beyond the high/secondary school level, specifically attendance at college or university. The study will be conducted at a four-year institution in the Northeast United States with second-generation Caribbean American men.

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