Marital Attitudes Of African Americans Obtaining Graduate Education

There is an escalating trend towards the decrease in marriage rates in the African-American community. However, previous research on this trend has focused largely on the perspectives of lower-income and less educated African-Americans. The perspectives of middle-income and educated African Americans have remained untapped in much of the marriage and divorce literature. Educational and economic disparities and a sex ratio balance between African-American men and women have been identified as factors that impact marital attitudes and behaviors in the African-American community. However, research has not examined the impact of these factors on the highly educated population of African Americans. This study utilized a survey method to measure the impact of these identified factors on the marital attitudes of 340 African Americans (263 females, 77 males) enrolled in graduate, law, or medical programs across the country. Analyses of variance and correlations were conducted to better understand the relationships between attitudes toward marriage and childhood family structure, gender, and marital considerations

The aim of this research is to understand the experiences of Black women in obtaining marital partners while enrolled in their graduate studies. Research has established that, generally speaking, the higher the level of education Black women have, the lower their chances of getting married. However, previous research does not examine why this phenomenon occurs from the perspective of Black women. My dissertation study uses a qualitative, transcendental phenomenological approach with an intersectional lens to understand the experiences of Black women in obtaining marital partners while pursuing advanced degrees. Participants in this study self-identified as Black female, were enrolled in a graduate degree program as a full-time student and identified as single and heterosexual.

While the marriage prospects of educated African American women are of particular interest to the media and scholars alike, very rarely do these two groups examine the ways in which African American men understand and perceive marriage. In particular, though they have successfully provided socio-cultural and historically specific examinations of the topic, scholars of African American Studies have not conducted in-depth empirical analyses of African American dating and marriage practices. Simultaneously, social scientists, while providing significant empirical data, have not supported their work with a cultural analysis specific to African American people. In an effort to merge these two areas of scholarship, this dissertation investigated the dating and relationship ideals of college-educated Black men and women. The purpose of this study was to: (1) discover what traits and criteria males and females consider most important in a potential mate, (2) understand the role that the current social and marriage market conditions such as sex ratio, socioeconomic status and education level play in mate selection among college educated Black men and women and (3) develop a culturally specific theory of Black marriage. Through the use of surveys administered online and in face-to-face sessions, this dissertation sought to explore how predictor variables such as age, sex, family economic status and education level influence how 123 college-educated Black males and females ages 18 and over view their dating and marriage prospects and the types of characteristics they assign to the ideal mate. Preliminary findings showed that participants placed a high level of importance on getting married, had positive attitudes toward marriage and were optimistic about their marriage prospects. Additionally, factors such as mate availability, educational attainment and economic ability were of particular importance to participants and play a role in their choices about if, when and who they would marry. Lastly, the author articulated a theory of marriage, the Preliminary Intersectional Factor Theory of Marriage Attitudes and Marital Behavior. Based on the findings, it was argued that the proposed preliminary theory of marriage takes into account the structural, economic and cultural factors that intersect to shape the lives, marital attitudes and marital behavior of Black men and women in America.

In a time when the American family has undergone dramatic evolution, change among African Americans has been particularly rapid and acute. African Americans now marry later than any other major ethnic group, and while in earlier decades nearly 95 percent of black women eventually married, today 30 percent are expected to remain single. The black divorcee rate has increased nearly five-fold over the last thirty years, and is double the rate of the general population. The result, according to The Decline in Marriage Among African Americans, is a greater share of family responsibilities being borne by women, an increased vulnerability to poverty and violence, and an erosion of community ties. The original, often controversial, research presented in this book links marital decline to a pivotal drop in the pool of marriageable black males. Increased joblessness has robbed many black men of their economic viability, rendering them not only less desirable as mates, but also less inclined to take on the responsibility of marriage. Higher death rates resulting from disease, poor health care, and violent crime, as well as evergrowing incarceration rates, have further depleted the male population. Editors M. Belinda Tucker and Claudia Mitchell-Kernan and the contributors take a hard look at the effects of chronic economic instability and cultural attitudes toward the male role as family provider. Their cogent historical analyses suggest that the influence of external circumstances over marriage preferences stems in large part from the profoundly damaging experience of slavery. This book firmly positions declining marriage within an ominous cycle of economic and social erosion. The authors propose policies for relieving the problems associated the changing marital behavior, focusing on support for single parent families, public education, and increased employment for African American men.