The Case for Equity-Mindedness

The Goal of Equity-Minded Instruction

Equity-minded instruction has one goal: learning and success for ALL students. While it might seem straight-forward on the surface, reaching the goal is much more complicated. To put it simply: all students don't experience college the same way.

Of course, college is difficult for many students, perhaps most students. But, there are different kinds of difficult. The challenges of finding time to balance class work and jobs is very different than dealing with these kinds of attacks on personal identities. If you review the list of "Campus Racial Incidents Links to an external site." on the JBHE site, you will find a long list, including: 

  • "On May 9 [2020], Oklahoma City University held its graduation online on the Zoom platform. During the benediction offered by student Jay Williams, the hacker displayed a swastika and the word “nigger” on the screen."
  • "The most common type of hate crime reported by institutions was destruction, damage, and vandalism (363 incidents), followed by intimidation (357 incidents), and simple assault (79 incidents). Four out of five of the total reported on-campus hate crimes in 2015 were motivated by race, religion, or sexual orientation. Race was the reported motivating bias in 39 percent of hate crimes (339 incidents). "
  • In 2020, "A racial slur was written on the door of an African American resident assistant at Southern Oregon University. Later a swastika was found at the same residence hall."
  • In 2019, "A Black student at the University of Arizona was accosted by two White students who used racial slurs. When the African American student told the two White students to stop the verbal abuse, he was attacked. The Black student was punched in the head and kicked while he lay on the ground."

These personal attacks reveal underlying problems in learning environments. Bringing an equity lens to your classroom work is one of the most important steps to achieving this equitable outcomes. To begin, this module examines the realities of why equity-mindedness is necessary.

 

Equity and Fairness

Ultimately, the first reason to prioritize equity-minded instruction is about fairness. If one group of students has struggled consistently over a long period of time, fairness demands the educators pay attention to that group. This meets one definition of equity: "a heightened focus on groups experiencing disproportionate impact in order to remediate disparities in their experiences and outcomes" (Wood and Harris, "Employing Equity-Minded & Culturally-Affirming Teaching Practices in Virtual Learning Communities Links to an external site."). According to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), equity is at the heart of student success:

"there are visible gaps in opportunities and outcomes for large numbers of students. Historically, low-income students and students of color have been excluded from too many opportunities in higher education, and today’s policies, expectations, and unspoken rules perpetuate the problem. To effectively educate today’s students, higher education must focus on  both equity and quality—to make the most empowering forms of college learning available to all students. Such an approach begins with equity-minded leaders who make it a priority to build new opportunities for low-income students and students of color."

AAC&U Report, "Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do To Reverse Our Deepening Divide Links to an external site.."

 

Equity and Student Success Rates

One of the most compelling reasons to address equity in When we look at who is succeeding in higher education and disaggregate the data, the numbers show significantly different experiences for certain groups of students than others. 

Nationally, students of color don’t graduate at the same rates as their White and Asian peers. Summarizing the research, Winkelmes and others found: 

Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students are about half as likely to complete a four-year college degree as their white and Asian classmates (US Department of Education 2014). Completion rates for low-income students lag far behind those of students whose family incomes are above the bottom quartile (Tough 2014). And first-generation college students are 51 percent less likely to graduate in four years than students whose parents completed college (Ishitani 2006). Cited in Winkelmes Links to an external site. (2016)

Sadly, community colleges - places that are much more affordable - are not succeeding at much higher rates. 

About 40 percent of all community college students who started their education in 2012 graduated within six years, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. But only 35.7 percent of Hispanic students and 27.5 percent of black students graduated from a two-year institution within that same time period. Furthermore, nearly 55 percent of black students who started at a community college in 2012 did not complete their studies and were no longer enrolled at any institution. Ashley A. Smith, Inside Higher Ed (2019) Links to an external site.

More locally, disaggregating students by race at SCC shows the same trends. Information available from IR’s Data Central for SCC students (during the years 2016 through 2019, all terms, departments, divisions and subjects), the success of White and Asian students was considerably higher than other students:

Student Race Avg Decimal Grade Avg Success Class Seats
White & Asian 2.97 85.1% 118,677
Hispanic/Latino 2.75 80.1% 5,396
Black/African American 2.49 74.4% 3,856
American Indian/Alaska Native 2.59 76.0% 2,677
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 2.42 72.5% 415

Please note that this often-cited, and problematically titled, “achievement gap” is addressed in Richard Milner’s “Beyond a Test Score: Explaining Opportunity Gaps in Educational Practice Links to an external site.” 2012. The reframing of the cause of these gaps is the issue, not the fact that they exist. (For more info on this topic, see this TLC page.) Placing all the blame for these gaps on the students is flawed thinking; higher ed must shoulder some of the responsibility for these differences and change strategies systemically. 

Other historically minoritized groups also experience similar challenges. LGBTQ+ student success is more difficult to measure - most colleges do not track the data for members of the LGBTQ+ community the same way as other marginalized groups. Collection of sensitive information about students' sexual orientation and gender identities is extremely problematic, so it is much more difficult to gather success information. But, research efforts have been made by advocate organizations on students who openly share their identities. A 2015 climate survey by the Association of American Universities, PNPI published  “Factsheets: LGBTQ Students in Higher Education Links to an external site.,” shared the following 

    • LGBTQ men were twice as likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree in comparison to LGBTQ women in 2015.
    • The probability of LGBTQ women completing a bachelor’s degree was 25%, which is below heterosexual women’s predicted probability of 34% in 2015.

That same survey shared truly troubling student experiences about concern for their safety , including "3 in 4 LGBTQ college students reported having experienced sexual harassment at least once." A 2020 AAC&U report, "LGBTQ Campus Climate: The Good and the Still Very Bad Links to an external site.," supports these findings:

  • 35% expressed "relative comfort" with their classroom climate
  • 31 % experienced a difficult or hostile campus climate
  • 21 % experienced some form of harassment related to their sexual identity or gender expression
  • 13 % of queer-spectrum and 43 % of trans-spectrum students "feared for their physical safety"
  • 43 % of queer-spectrum and 63 % of trans-spectrum students concealed their identities

And, when the survey respondents had intersecting identities - especially queer and trans spectrum students of color - the rates are even higher. For more information about intersectionality, see this TLC module.

Additionally, first-generation students are also at greater risk for persisting in and completing college coursework. According to the Center for First-Generation Student Success Fact Sheet 2 Links to an external site.:

Statistics showing that first-generation students earn degrees and certificates at lower rates than continuing-generation students

Students who are the first in their families to attend college are also less likely to enroll full-time, complete the credits they attempt, pass college-level and advanced math courses, and persist after the first year. 

All these groups benefit from an equity-minded instructional approaches. 

 

Equity and the College's Mission  

In addition to pass rates, there are other reasons that we should be paying attention to this completion gap. On a practical note, addressing equity helps us not only meet our mission, but it helps us meet enrollment targets and maintain a healthy campus community. The AAC&U reports that, just like the larger US population, the majority of college students will be students of color in the near future. By 2050, they predict that there will be more Hispanic students than White students enrolled. For details, see their report "Step Up and Lead for Equity Links to an external site.." 

In the 21st century, we have to do better with the students that we have, not the ones that we wish we had. The simple fact is this - there are fewer traditional-age college students in the US right now. So, we can’t expect any large gains in enrollment (barring recessions, COVID-19, or other unpredictable circumstances). To continue our mission, we have to support success for nontraditional students (our bread and butter at SCC) and attract others. For more discussion of the intersection of higher education enrollment and equity issues, I would recommend The Chronicle’s article “The Case for Inclusive Teaching Links to an external site.” by Kevin Gannon (2018).

Last, but not least, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) has a 2019 vision statement Links to an external site.that includes this specific focus: 

“On June 27, 2019, the governor-appointed Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges unanimously approved the following vision statement: 

“Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.” 

The vision statement is meant to inspire us, to challenge us, and to capture the heart of our mission so well that we are restless to improve. It also answers a fundamental question: What do we hope to achieve for our students and the world they create?"

The need for equitable educational experiences is well documented. Let’s continue the discussion about how we make that happen. 

 

Additional Resources

For more information about the big picture of equity and student success, I recommend the following articles and resources: