African American students, the academic ethic, and GPA

This article aims to contribute to the debate about Black-White educational achievement and engagement by investigating how the academic ethic is configured for White and Black students and which variables are significantly related to GPA. Students at a medium-size state university in the Southeast were surveyed concerning their attitudes and behaviors about learning. A variety of factors were assessed for their influence on GPA, and students who possessed an "academic ethic" were more likely to have higher GPAs. A higher percentage of Blacks had an academic ethic than Whites, but Blacks also had lower GPAs than Whites. Regression models with GPA as the dependent variable were different for Blacks and Whites. Implications for future research will be discussed.