Holland, N. E. (2011). The power of peers: Influences on postsecondary education planning and experiences of african american students. Urban Education, 46(5), 1029-1055.

This investigation demonstrates the effect that peers have on students’ academic engagement and educational aspirations. Forty-nine African American university students retrospectively discuss the manner by which their friends influenced their academic commitment and activity while in high school; their postsecondary education aspirations, planning, and decision making; and their college experiences. These data reveal that peers have noteworthy influence on their friends’ academic activities and their postsecondary education planning and experiences; however, greater efforts need to be made to ensure that students, their families, and their peers have access to, and are making decisions based on, appropriate academic and college planning information.

Full article can be found here:

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042085911400339