Inequality In Higher Education

Higher Education Research and Social Policy
Inequality in higher education is a contemporary example of a social problem today because of societal challenges from the past. The purpose of this paper is to identify the discriminative factors that play a role in higher education attainment and retention rates and to discuss the history of discrimination as it links to current social and racial tensions in higher education institutions and policy. This paper examines how the faculty research has addressed discrimination in efforts to reach underserved students. This paper provides an overview of racial discrimination as a social problem in higher education and explanations to how the higher education faculty research has shaped public policy and
practice in regards to the problem.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave rise to abolish inequalities among diverse populations. This era began with efforts to combat the effects of segregation by seeking remedies for past discrimination to form a racial preference system (Cohen, & Kisker, p. 314). Affirmative action played an instrumental role in unity and policy as it served to remedy the underrepresentation of diverse groups within (and outside) higher education institutes (Cohen, & Kisker, p. 315). Affirmative action spawned from the civil rights resists and organized by the African American community, however, affirmative action also represented for women and other minorities including American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanics. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, affirmative action focused on the potential loss of gaining one’s intellectual assets due to racial and sexual discrimination within institutions of higher education (Cohen, & Kisker, p. 316).
From 1945 to 1975, the Mass Higher Education Era gave rise to an increase in college access rates.
However, this era also continued to produce trends of rising social, cultural, and political tensions that, in turn, became barriers for college access in minority populations. Although the U.S. Equal opportunity and equal rights movement were established with the intent to remove barriers caused by discrimination, challenges for higher education minority group still existed and inequalities were still barriers (Cohen & Kisker, 2010, p. 187). To address these challenges, institutions and federal government agencies put efforts into attracting minority students by expanding remedial programs and financial aid programs and promoting affirmative action policies/antidiscrimination laws (Cohen &Kisker,
2010). Although these efforts resulted in an increase in higher education enrollment and graduation rates among diverse populations, providing equality of educational access and opportunity for all students still fell short due to social discrimination and prejudices (Cohen & Kisker, 2010). Furthermore, in response to the shortcomings of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 law to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, addressing these challenges gave rise to the enactment of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX became a law to prohibit discrimination based on sex in all aspects of education, including sports and other activities (American educational history, 2014).
Historical and current studies have indicated that students from lower-income families are less likely to attend college, and within these who did attend were even less likely to graduate (White House task force, n.d.). Socioeconomic factors can have a discriminatory effect on both the attainment and retention rates in higher education as these rates based on income and socioeconomic status are lower for lower-income students than these rates for their higher-income peers. These data deriving from previous and current studies illustrate that significant income barriers to postsecondary education exist still and still act as a barrier that limits a student’s pursuit of exploring all aspects of higher education (White House task force, n.d., p.10).

As stated in Harvey’s (2011) work, the recent recognition of institutions of higher education playing important roles in addressing major social issues gave way to change the attitude, the sense of responsibility, and to some degree the operational approach of the academic community (Harvey, 2011, p. 10). These changes helped form the contemporary approach of the academic community, which entails institutions to engage in efforts to resolve major problems through their support and contributions of intellectual, technological, and financial resources (Harvey, 2011). As segregation in the past reflects current civil disproportion in communities of color as compared to predominantly white communities, many colleges and universities today are responding with considerations and means to address these differences as a valid part of their mission (Harvey, 2011).
Because higher education institutions continue to reflect increasing isolation and profound inequality for African Americans, higher education communities have ethical and practical responsibilities to help implement positive change and to continue the forward movement toward a less racially discriminatory society. According to Harvey (2011), the projected consequences of these inequalities will progressively grow due to the growing number and percentage of nonwhite and impoverished students and the dramatic relationships between educational attainment and economic success in a globalized economy.
Harvey (2011) also suggested that America’s rapidly growing population of Latino and African American students is more segregated today than it has been since the 1960’s (Harvey, 2011). Higher education institutions must partake in their responsibilities to create diversified and representative, racially and culturally sensitive and responsive institutions by addressing the following four areas (Harvey, 2011). The first is to identify, promote, enroll, support, and graduate larger numbers of students from underserved communities and prepare them to exercise leadership among themselves and within the larger society (Harvey, 2011, p.12). The second is to develop meaningful academic and social opportunities that enable white students to engage and interact with their non-white peers in efforts to stress that their race provides them with an equal, rather than a favored, role for participation and advancement (Harvey, 2011, p.12). The third area is to increase the number of faculty members from underrepresented groups so that all students can see that members of all races have the intellectual capability to hold such positions (Harvey, 2011, p.12). The fourth area is to debunk the stereotyping of specific groups’ associations with specific talents or degree of intelligence by broadening the curricula to expand the diversity in these aspects. Although an estimated one‐third of all higher education institutes offer some form of support through outreach programs designed to help prepare students from underserved communities for college, it will be important for higher education leaders, alumni of these programs, current students and their families to help preserve them for future prospective college attendees (Harvey, 2011, p. 14).

References

American educational history: A hypertext timeline.
(2014). Retrieved from http://www.eds-resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.html
Cohen, A.M. & Kisker, C.B. (2010). The shaping of American higher education: Emergence and growth of the secondary system (2nd ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Harvey, W. B. (2011). Higher education and diversity: Ethical and practical responsibility in the academy. Retrieved from http://www.kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/reports/2011/11
White House task force on middle-class families. Staff report: Barriers to higher education. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.whitehouse.gov