Educational Attainment and Racial Discrimination Report

Introduction

Education has often been a predicting factor when it comes to the lives of American citizens regardless of their race, color, or creed. However, research studies have shown that most minority races such as Hispanics, Native Americans, and African Americans have a chance of about fifty percent of graduating from college when compared to other races.

Consequently, it is true that African American might have to contend with below average lives as a result of this academic inequality. For instance, some political elements have alluded to African Americans being ‘uneducated’ and ‘unwilling’ to do so.

The association of the African American race with criminal tendencies can also be traced back to their access and involvement with formal education. There is a need to address the problem of black people and access to formal education in a more exhaustive manner. Currently, empty rhetoric and stereotyping dominates the debate on educational attainment in regards to racial discrimination.

There is also a significant chance of minorities having problems with their careers even after they attain formal education. Standardized tests also pose a challenge to minorities in regards to their attainment of formal education.

In average, African Americans perform poorly than the White majority in their standardized tests. In this report, the issue of educational discrimination and its long-term effects on the lives of colored people will be explored. In addition, this report will be useful to educational stakeholders in their quest for finding a lasting solution to the issues of educational attainment and racial discrimination.

Educational Discrimination

Educational inequality is a major factor in the issues of the educational-discrimination of African Americans. Educational inequality can be defined as “the difference in the learning results, or efficacy that is experienced by students who come from different socio-economic groups” (Nicholson‐Crotty, Birchmeier, and Valentine 1005).

On the other hand, success in education is often measured in terms of grades that are assigned to students after they have gone through standardized tests. Overall success in education can be measured through college-entry rates and completion statistics. All these factors can be traced back to African Americans and their chances of success in educational attainment.

After failing to attain commendable levels of education, African Americans might experience difficulties engaging in further education even later on in life. For instance, “graduating from high school can dictate whether an individual is eligible to apply and be accepted into any post high school education” (Altonji and Blank 3200).

Statistics have also “indicated that African Americans perform poorly in the two standardized tests (ACT and SAT) that are required in order for individuals to be admitted to colleges and universities” (Chavous 1081). Other majority groups have been found to have access to tools that enable them to perform better in standardized tests.

The problems of African Americans suffering through an unequal education system have been reiterated by a former College Board President who once said; “tests are not the problem…students are not the problem…the problem we have is an unfair education system in America…an unequal educational system” (Nicholson‐Crotty, Birchmeier, and Valentine 1006).

Attempts have been made to eliminate the ‘inequality’ element of the American educational system but none of these has achieved any significant results. For instance, between 2001 and 2005 there were extensive attempts to revamp the SAT testing procedures with the view of bridging the inequality gap in education.

Effects of Educational Inequality: Income

Educational inequalities often translate to subsequent problems in the lives of African Americans. One of these effects of educational inequality is income. Income inequalities among individuals and households have been found to have a direct connection to levels of education attainment. For instance, “a typical Black family had 60% as much income as a white family in 1968, but only 58% as much in 2002” (Steele and Aronson 439).

These trends indicate that even after the attainment of Civil Rights, black families still make considerably less money than white families. This disparity in income has often been attributed to the education factor. An individual’s level of education determines how much money he/she can make.

Governments and other stakeholders have also emphasized on the need for an individual to have a good level of education if he/she wants to ‘get ahead’. The National Center for Policy Analysis validates that people who drop out of high school earn fifty percent less than the individuals who graduate do (Fordham and Ogbu 179).

In addition, the same data bank indicates that individuals who graduate from college earn approximately 80% more money than individuals who only have a high school diploma. The percentage of individuals who graduate from college has remained steady for the last few decades thereby raising the question of what can be done to elevate the status of minorities in respect to educational attainment and income enhancement.

When income levels are limited, it also means that most African American families do not have what it takes to raise the quality levels of their children’s education. This quagmire compounds the solution of income inequality in relation to educational attainment.

Social Mobility

Lack of adequate educational attainment also hampers individuals from attaining social mobility. Social mobility “refers to the movement in class status from one generation to another” (Chiswick 479). The lives of most African Americans are mostly synonymous with the notion of ‘rags to riches’ where an individual has to work hard to overcome the constraints of a previously diminutive lifestyle.

However, the ‘rags to riches’ notion also coincides with the fact that the rates of social mobility among African Americans are oddly low. For most part of the lives of African Americans, social mobility has often been as a result of exceptional talent as opposed to educational attainment (Steele and Aronson 437).

In addition, most sociologists and economists are in agreement that the rates of social mobility in the United States have most likely stagnated or decreased over the last three decades. This period of the last thirty years also coincides with the tumultuous juncture through when the African American race has undergone through a series of challenges.

A stratified educational system is to blame for the general lack of upward mobility among African Americans. Education ‘opens doors’ for individuals, therefore ‘lack of’ adequate levels of this valuable commodity is poised to ‘close doors’ of upward mobility among African Americans.

It is also important to note that while wages of individuals who have college degrees have increased tremendously over the last 50 years, individuals who lack any significant formal education have seen their wages stagnate or drop over the same period of time.

Overall, “the educational system forces low-income families to place their children into less-than-ideal school systems those children are typically not presented with the same opportunities and educational motivation as are students from well-off families, resulting in patterns of repeated intergenerational educational choices for parent and child, also known as decreased or stagnant social mobility” (Chavous 1070).

Educational Discrimination as a Catalyst for Social/Racial Discrimination

America is currently a hot bed of social and racial discrimination, and low levels of academic attainment have acted as catalysts for this problem. In America, having a job or a good level of education does not necessarily exempt individuals from racial discrimination. Racial discrimination in America appears to be targeted at individuals indiscriminately thereby affecting various individuals differently. Statistics indicate that managers and other distinguished professionals earn considerably higher wages than other ordinary employees do (Altonji and Blank 3150).

However, attaining a top-level position depends on a number of factors among them being an individual’s level of education. An average African American who aspires to hold a significant position in the society experiences discrimination both in regards to skin color and level/type of education. Therefore, an individual being disadvantaged in terms of educational attainment acts as a precipitating factor when it comes to matters of racial discrimination.

In the American workforce, social discrimination is rife because African Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to end up in the service sector and other menial jobs that require low levels of educational attainment. Other current statistics indicate that within the past decade “the percentage of workers who are managers of professionals increased from 29 percent to 33 percent for whites and from 16 percent to 22 percent for blacks” (Chiswick 580). Coincidentally, these statistics are supposed to reflect an uplifting of the position of African Americans in the American workplace.

Recommended Solutions to Educational Attainment

This is the most opportune time to tackle the issue of educational attainment and racial discrimination. The issue of racism has almost come to a full circle in America, and there are various solutions that can salvage the issue of educational attainment among African Americans. The most sound solution to the issue of race and discrimination is to ensure that educational opportunities are made available to all people irrespective of all their racial affiliation.

The other approach is to ensure that all learners are subjected through a fair and balanced assessment system. For instance, some assessment methods were conjured when it the needs of the minority were often ahead of the needs of the majority.

Consequently, these types of systems cannot provide sound solutions to the problem of educational attainment among African Americans. Yet another approach to inequality issues is to have the government come up legislation policies that can aid in eliminating the biases that apply to the American educational system.

Online education is also set to harmonize educational systems in the United States and across the world because they are more considerate of the needs of the majority and they are also intended for mass consumption. The government and other stakeholders should also look into cases where educational inequality has been reversed in countries such as South Africa and India (Fordham and Ogbu 200).

Conclusion

Issues of educational attainment and racial discrimination among African Americans have been persistent throughout the history of America. On the other hand, it was assumed that the imbalances would be easily phased out after Civil Rights liberties were bestowed on all Americans (Steele and Aronson 437).

Academic discrimination is precipitated by income levels and standardized tests and it is often manifested through lack of social mobility and job-based social discrimination. The government and other stakeholders hold the key solutions to the issue of educational inequality.

Works Cited

Altonji, Joseph, and Rebecca Blank. “Race and Gender in the Labor Market.” Handbook of Labor Economics 3.1 (2009): 3143-3259. Print.

Chavous, Tabbye M., et al. “Racial Identity and Academic Attainment among African American Adolescents.” Child Development 74.4 (2003): 1076-1090. Print.

Chiswick, Barry. “Differences in Education and Earnings across Racial and Ethnic Groups: Tastes, Discrimination, and Investments in Child Quality.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2008): 571-597. Print.

Fordham, Signithia, and John Ogbu. “Black Students’ School Success: Coping With the “Burden of ‘Acting White’”.” The Urban Review 18.3 (1996): 176-206. Print.

Nicholson‐Crotty, Sean, Zachary Birchmeier, and David Valentine. “Exploring the Impact of School Discipline on Racial Disproportion in the Juvenile Justice System.” Social Science Quarterly 90.4 (2009): 1003-1018. Print.

Steele, Claude, and John Aronson. “Stereotypes and the Fragility of Academic Competence, Motivation, and Self-Concept.” Handbook of Competence and Motivation (2005): 436-455. Print.