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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) conducted a national report which indicated a disproportionate percentage of music education and performance graduates according to race, with black students graduating at 6.6% (McKoy, 2012). HBCUs are vital to improving the representation of Blacks, especially in high-need schools and communities (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). HBCUs produce around 50% of the nation’s black teachers (Fenwick, 2021), however most of the 4-year HBCUs in the state of Georgia do not offer music education as a degree program (GAPSC, 2020). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the school choice decision of music ensemble students who attend Georgia HBCUs that do not offer music education. The Opportunity Gap Explanatory framework was used to guide this study, accompanied with a quantitative method of descriptive study design. I collected data via the College Choice Survey, created by the U.S. Department of Education where I surveyed 88 participants. Research questions were developed to understand how and in what way did the lack of music education offerings in Georgia HBCUs affect choices of black students, as well as the factors that influenced the school choice decision of music ensemble students who studied at HBCUs. The study also found that the majority of music ensemble students from these HBCUs, attracted students who did not desire to become certified music educators. Also, the results indicated that students’ choice of undergraduate institution was influenced by larger scholarship offers from their university, friends/family are attending or have attended the university of choice, academic level and reputation of university of college choice is high including faculty and facilities, better choice of music ensembles at their university, the university showed a more personal interest in the student, smaller class size available at their university, and wanting to go out of state to be further from home. Factors such as PWI enrollment benchmarks, audition standards, school location, cost of attendance, and university culture influenced the school choice decision of music ensemble students who studied at HBCUs.
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) conducted a national report which indicated a disproportionate percentage of music education and performance graduates according to race, with black students graduating at 6.6% (McKoy, 2012). HBCUs are vital to improving the representation of Blacks, especially in high-need schools and communities (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). HBCUs produce around 50% of the nation’s black teachers (Fenwick, 2021), however most of the 4-year HBCUs in the state of Georgia do not offer music education as a degree program (GAPSC, 2020). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the school choice decision of music ensemble students who attend Georgia HBCUs that do not offer music education. The Opportunity Gap Explanatory framework was used to guide this study, accompanied with a quantitative method of descriptive study design. I collected data via the College Choice Survey, created by the U.S. Department of Education where I surveyed 88 participants. Research questions were developed to understand how and in what way did the lack of music education offerings in Georgia HBCUs affect choices of black students, as well as the factors that influenced the school choice decision of music ensemble students who studied at HBCUs. The study also found that the majority of music ensemble students from these HBCUs, attracted students who did not desire to become certified music educators. Also, the results indicated that students’ choice of undergraduate institution was influenced by larger scholarship offers from their university, friends/family are attending or have attended the university of choice, academic level and reputation of university of college choice is high including faculty and facilities, better choice of music ensembles at their university, the university showed a more personal interest in the student, smaller class size available at their university, and wanting to go out of state to be further from home. Factors such as PWI enrollment benchmarks, audition standards, school location, cost of attendance, and university culture influenced the school choice decision of music ensemble students who studied at HBCUs.