“Summer Search is strongly committed to serving more young Black men.”

Sherri Brooks, Summer Search’s Director of Learning, Evaluation, & Engagement.

Sherri’s back with our second installment of #BehindTheData!

Last week, she discussed some of the demographics of the Summer Search participants we currently serve. This week, Sherri dives into a group that we are striving to serve more of, young Black men (male-identifying participants).

Recruiting and Serving More Young Black Men

Summer Searchers are doing well overall, however there are segments of our population that we’re not reaching at the same level – one of them being young Black men.

While we serve 96% students of color, with 25% of all students identifying as Black/African American, we serve a lower number of young Black men than we’d like to.

When analyzing our recruitment and enrollment data over the past four years, we noticed that the percentage of young Black men entering (enrolling in) Summer Search has been under the mean percentage of other young men that were not Black/African American entering our program. Specifically:

• Between 2018-2019: enrollment of young Black men was 6.4% higher than men of other races entering our program.
• Between 2020-2023: enrollment of young Black men is 4.4% lower than men of other races entering our program.

We Can Do Better! Here Are Actions We’re Taking. 

Our communities and teams have implemented strategies with clear goals to recruit and retain young Black men in Summer Search. On the recruitment side, that includes: 

• Seeking new referral partnerships (high schools, community organizations, and more). 
• Prioritizing young Black men in the application and acceptance processes.
• Engaging current Summer Search students and alumni as recruitment ambassadors.

Summer Search is strongly committed to serving more young Black men. And recruitment is just one phase of this commitment.

Tune in next week when Sherri will take a closer look at our engagement and retention efforts to better support young Black men once they are already enrolled in our program. #BehindTheData

#BehindTheData Schedule: 

• Thurs. 2/15: Who our Summer Searchers are. 
• Thurs. 2/22 (Today!): Who we hope to serve more. 
• Thurs. 2/29: How we hope to serve our young people better. 
• Thurs. 3/7: How our participants are thriving. 

Note: The presented data reflects Summer Search’s 2023 Fiscal Year (“FY23”), which is October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023.