The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1 - 156

for discussion of the second-year experience
with other professionals at their institution.
Representatives from the counseling center,
multicultural affairs, academic colleges, and
advising centers could come together in a
collaborative network to discuss student transitions and the second-year experience. Bringing together individuals from various units
in academic and student affairs would allow
for a more comprehensive understanding
of the second-year experience. Professionals
working in multicultural affairs and the counseling center could provide information on
how the second year is similar and different
for African American students and students
from other underrepresented backgrounds.
Campus networks can also help identify students who are struggling in terms of involvement, time management, and motivation and
then determine ways to intervene.

CONCLUSION
African American students in this study described their second-year experience positively,
apparently avoiding the sophomore slump that
some students experience (Lemons & Richmond, 1987; Pattengale & Schreiner, 2000).
While they indicated that their second year
was better than their ﬁrst, they still searched
for ways to maintain balance among competing interests and priorities. In order to help
these students grow during their second year
of college, residence life professionals must
provide opportunities for the creation and
maintenance of support networks. By engaging in conversations with other professionals
at the institution, residence life professionals
can further understand the speciﬁc needs for
underrepresented student populations during
the second year.

LIMITATIONS
Participants in this study described their
second year as better than their ﬁrst year at
the university, but that is not the case for all
students. While the invitation to participate
in the research study was sent to all African
American students in their second year at the
research site, those who did not have a positive
experience at the institution may have decided
not to participate. The lack of more African
American male participants was another limitation. Additional efforts were made to contact
African American male students to participate
in the study, but they did not respond. Finally,
we examined the second-year experience of
African American students at only one institution, and their experiences may not be representative of those of similar populations at
other institutions.
156

REFERENCES
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Boivin, M., Fountain, G. A., & Baylis, B. (2000).
Meeting the challenges of the sophomore year.
In L. A. Schreiner & J. Pattengale (Eds.), Visible
solutions for invisible students: Helping sophomores
succeed (Monograph No. 31, pp. 1-18). Columbia,
SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and
Students in Transition.
Bourdieu, P. (1971). Systems of education and
systems of thought. In M. K. D. Young (Ed.),
Knowledge and control: New directions for the sociology of education (pp. 189-207). London, England:
Collier Macmillan.
Bourdieu, P. (1973). Cultural reproduction and social
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