In this episode, Andrew H. Nichols and Shaun R. Harper join us to discuss the recent EdTrust report
Broken Mirrors: Black Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities. The concept behind
Broken Mirrors is that the demographics of college students does not mirror that of the general public and that students of color are vastly underrepresented on college campuses. We discuss the ways the college admissions process is biased towards wealthy white students, from the recruitment process to standardized testing. You'll learn about the systemic changes that need to take place to ensure that students of color have equal opportunity to succeed in higher education.
Andrew H. Nichols, Ph.D. is the Senior Director of Higher Education Research and Data Analytics at The Education Trust. He helps develop a research agenda that identifies patterns and trends in college access, affordability, and success, with a keen focus on improving outcomes for underserved populations.
Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D. is a Provost Professor at the Rossier School of Education and Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He studies racial, gender, and LGBT issues in corporations, law firms, Hollywood production companies, K-12 schools, and universities. His research has been cited in over 10,000 published studies. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, and several thousand other news outlets have quoted Professor Harper and featured his research. [spp-player url=http://traffic.libsyn.com/voices4ed/27_-_Education_Post_-_Broken_Mirrors.mp3] [spp-tweet tweet="“The research makes clear that when more holistic measures are used in college admissions processes, that the students who are admitted actually perform better academically” – Shaun R. Harper"]
Episode Details:
- Why colleges usually don’t consider race in the admissions process
- Why the lack of representation in colleges is not entirely the fault of the K-12 system
- Better ways to determine whether or not students are ready for college
- How standardized tests are biased against non-white students
- Why higher education is still the best path towards economic security and upward social mobility
- How to ensure students of color have equal opportunity to succeed at public institutions
Links Mentioned:
[spp-tweet tweet="“On the one hand we have to hire more black and brown faculty members but on the other hand we have to help the white faculty members who comprise the overwhelming majority of these faculties be more highly skilled at teaching racially and ethnically diverse learners.” – Shaun R. Harper"]