Review of “Higher education and the color line: College access, racial equity, and social change”

Abstract

Higher Education and the Color Line discusses some of the core issues in the search for equity and inclusivity in higher education today and highlights three issues: equal ac- cess and funding for disadvantaged students, racial inequities that exist between the com- munity college and the university (2-year versus 4-year colleges in the US), and whether the gap between educational interest and educational success has lessened when it comes to minority students. A few authors in this book make concrete suggestions about how to conduct research in the area of inclusivity in schools and across landscapes and suggest quite boldly that quantitative research and research questions need to change radically in order for real progress to occur (Chapter 3 "Equity in Educational Attainment: Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Inequality in the 50 States," by Derek V. Price and Jill K. Wohlford). In the introduction, Gary Olfield suggests that the book isn't for the faint of heart: "this book is not optimistic about the role of colleges and universities in the struggle for social justice" (p. 7). Many of the authors suggest that a part of the reason for this state- ment is that the policies that are meant to increase student access are also interpreted as limiting access elsewhere. Money remains a centrally discussed issue and austerity has reappeared as the new central reason for cutbacks and usually results in limited fund- ing to those who need it most. More than one author in the volume is critical of "merit-" based approaches to funding (such as those based on standardized test results) because they replicate social inequalities that make minorities struggle to keep up with tests they are set up to fail (Chapter 7, "Potential or Peril: The Evolving Relationship between Large- Scale Standardized Assessment and Higher Education" by Catherine L. Horn) or rising tuition (Chapter 4, "Can Minority Students Afford College in an Era of Skyrocketing Tu- ition" by Donald E. Heller).