Why Improving Diversity Starts with Higher Ed
In the United States, a collective of nearly 3,000 colleges and universities train the best talent in the country. A small percentage of these institutions rank among the highest. Degrees from the highest-ranking universities typically give graduate professional carte blanche throughout their careers. This may lead some to question who receives such unbridled freedoms, such as admission to the nation’s Ivy League school and access to countless corporate career prospects. Logic would dictate that such opportunities abound for minorities, paralleling the country’s increasingly diverse cultural background.
In part, these top universities base admissions acceptance on scholastic aptitude tests (SATs). Many hopeful students view their SAT scores as the top factor for university admittance, incorrectly equating their score to their intelligence. Researcher have counted this belief by proving that students with lower SAT scores can, and do, compete with their higher scoring peers with equal success.
Educational Diversity in the United States
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In America, 40-percent of all students in kindergarten through twelfth grades are minorities. However, only 17-percent of teachers and principals and 11-percent of school board executive are people of color. Furthermore, minorities only represent 6-percent professionals occupying school superintendent positions in the nation, which is the highest-ranking position in the school districts of each municipality. In sum, the report reveals that the ethnic composition of the country’s educational leaders sharply contrasts that of the school
In “Net (Race) Neutral: An Essay on How GPA + (reweighted) SAT - Race = Diversity,” Christine Goodman illustrates the opposing viewpoints in regards to the racial discriminatory efforts by the college institutions to help diversify the incoming freshman class. With this, Goodman provides statistics and opinions of experts on the matter, which includes comparison of such discriminatory acts against other institutions. To begin, she brings up an enlightening, yet controversial court case decision: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013). This court case demonstrates significance to this topic because it counteracts a previous court case, Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), which, “upheld diversity as a compelling interest that would justify narrowly
This statistic shows the lack of diversity in the educational work force. Robert Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas and the author of the 1998 White Privilege Shapes the U.S., points out a simple observation; that even white professors who lack the preparation and knowledge that is required in order to successfully teach, can have their disqualifications easily overlooked based not only on their race, but also on their social class, and often times their
Jamelle Bouie’s article titled, Still Separate and Unequal-Why American schools are becoming segregated once again, touches on the history of desegregation in American schools but focuses how statistically minority students are more likely to attend majority- minority schools than in previous generations. This article points out that poverty and segregation play a direct role in the school system. While drawing connections between school segregation, concentrated poverty, entrenched segregation, and housing discrimination it also presents the authors not so optimistic view on future reforms to segregated schools, districts, and educational equality as he states in regard to education equality, “To do this, however, requires a commitment to
While reading the article, it is easy to see how the author establishes main points about race playing a key role in inadequate funding and opportunities for certain school systems. Darling- Hammond emphasizes that
The universities must be filled with talented and well-educated people in the United States. In order to achieve a more diverse environment, Bloomberg’s foundation, the American Talent Initiative, instills a goal: to increase the number of Pell Grant recipients attending college within ten years. Michael Bloomberg creates a coalition of colleges including private and public colleges to commit to being more diverse. Moreover, Jeffrey Valdespino Leal, a Stanford freshman, is an exemplar of a low-income student intermixing with the elite university students. Jeffrey Valdespino’s experience shows people that the middle class can achieve success at an Ivy League school.
About 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the debate continues over racial inequalities in the nation’s school system, largely based differences in resources between schools in wealthier and economically districts across the
In addition, the Government Accountability Office [GAO] (2016) reported: “from school years 2000-2001 to 2013-2014, the percentage of all K-12 public schools that had high percentages of poor and black or Hispanic students grew from 9 to 16 percent” (p. 2). These findings suggest that practices of racially and economically segregating students of color continue unresolved. Sadly, poverty and race are automatic disqualifiers for children of color to have equal access to quality
Surprisingly, segregation still exists in the school system with direct impacts to individuals of color. Previously the landmark Brown V. Board of Education Supreme Court decision intended to stop segregation in schools, however, the case did not have a strong impact. According to “Race Ethnicity and Education” by Adrienne D. Dixson and Celia K. Rousseau Brown vs Board of Education is an appeasement act rather than a solution. Arguing that Brown vs Board of Education was a mirage whereas fifty years later indicates growing Hispanic and African American students attending schools comprised of minorities (Dixson 18). Additionally elucidating, “during the 2001-2002 school year, nearly 63% of black students in Michigan attended schools that were 90-100% minority” (Dixson 18).
More than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, racial inequalities continue to be debated in the nation's schools, mainly because of residential patterns and resource differences between schools in wealthier and economically disadvantaged
The underrepresentation of African American teachers in U.S. schools is a longstanding issue that has significant implications for student outcomes. This dissertation will explore the historical context of African American education and teachers, highlight the persistent disparities in education outcomes between African American students and their peers, and examine the impact of the underrepresentation of African American teachers on student outcomes. Despite decades of progress toward greater diversity in the teaching profession, African American teachers remain vastly underrepresented in comparison to their white counterparts. This thematic concern is of particular importance because research has shown that students of color, particularly African American students, benefit academically and socially from having teachers who share
The exam was formerly constructed in the 1920s to measure "American Inteligence", so that smart white males can be put into recognized institutions such as Harvard. Today the SAT is used in college admissions. Because of the time period,The Authors didn’t take account racial diversity. Not only is the SAT biased to non-white test takers, but also to the
A students ACT and SAT score is just one portion of many college applications. Colleges and Universities look at GPA, an essay, and letter of recommendations to determine a student’s admission. Many people believe that the importance of the ACT or SAT score depends on the college and what other things the student has to offer (Drinkworth, 2015). The ACT and SAT tests can be an important factor in college admissions because they tests are on all subject areas, math, reading, writing, and science. Since each area is graded separately and the score is later averaged out it shows how the students does overall in the general
According to Voight’s, Hanson’s, O’Malley’s, and Adekanye’s study, many black children reported of having less favorable relationship between their white instructors compared to white students, while black and hispanic instructors tend to have a steady report of positive relationship and attitude with their students from all races (Voight, Hanson, O’Malley, Adekanye, 2015). Moreover, in a sample from the Texas school districts, districts with more Hispanic and Black teachers have better success in their students’ academic performance for all races, compared to districts that have a larger number of white instructors (Voight, Hanson, O’Malley, Adekanye, 2015). This goes back to the discrepancies in a student-teacher relationship when both parties do not share the same understanding of each other’s background and cultures. The rift in the relationship is mended when a mutual understanding manifests between the two. Hispanic and Black instructors already have a similar background with the current students, which makes their attitude towards these groups more sympathetics and understanding compared to a white teacher who may had the mainstream
As Wilson, stated he also agrees that the reason why minorities do not score as high as is due to their lack of knowledge on certain words since most of them are raised in low-budget areas and go to schools that lack some of the resources needed for aid on the SATs. A minority herself and a college professor agree that there is not any bias questions on the SATs and they just do not
Racial inequality in education is predominant in black students and is perpetuated further by educators. A theory that explains this could be the “hidden curriculum” theory which conditions students to believe that their cultural backgrounds must be silenced to resemble the model white student. Studies show that training educators in cultural sensitivity and establishing trust between students and teachers allows students from varying cultural backgrounds to improve in classroom settings. RACE INEQUALITY IN U.S. EDUCATION Considered the “melting pot” of the world due to its high diversity, the United States has been renowned for the varying cultures and races populating the country.