Fostering Academic Success of First-Year Students: Exploring the Roles of Motivation, Race, and Faculty

Although academic motivation is an important predictor of academic success, we show that being academically motivated is not equally beneficial for everyone. More specifically, the results indicate that African American students benefit less from being academically motivated than do their White peers, particularly when they report interacting with faculty who are not highly invested in student learning and development. These findings have implications for theories of academic motivation and college student success as well as policies and practices aimed at improving student outcomes.