Telling our stories: Using Photovoice to bridge equality for Black men at a predominantly white institution

Background: Social and economic factors increase the vulnerability of low socioeconomic communities to a cadre of health issues including hypertension, obesity, and HIV. In all these public health concerns, Black males experience greater proportions of morbidity and mortality. Subsequently, educational attainment plays a major role in health disparities particularly for Black males. Therefore, the purpose of this project is 1) to examine those factors that facilitate and/or inhibit Black males from successfully completing their college education at a predominantly white institution 2) inform the development of policies and practices that improve student retention and graduation.

Methods: The study used a grounded participatory design where photovoice methods elicited information regarding participants' lived university experiences including barriers to educational success.

Results: A representative set of images with captions provided a springboard for informing the larger university community about the salient issues articulated by the men in this project. Participants described lack of social space, intimidation from campus police at Black events, misconceptions and racial stereotypes from other students, difficulties in communicating with professors and navigating the college financial system as barriers to educational success.

Conclusion: Efforts to increase retention and graduation must address communication barriers from student and faculty perspective, cultural awareness and diversity, and integrating Black males into the campus community. These findings will be shared via a photo exhibit with key stakeholders in order to inform the development of policies and practices that encourage student health and success.