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Diversity
Tonight on NPR's On Point, out of Boston, the topic for one hour was college admissions trends. As introduced on the show's website:
It's college admissions season. Rejection season, too. The competition for entry into the country's top colleges and universities has never been tougher.
Who's getting in? Well, a lot of very good students. And a lot of very affluent students.
In a time of sharp economic inequality in America, critics say America's top colleges have become part of the problem -- the crowning advantage for kids born to advantage. Some are even saying it's time to sideline racial diversity as a top goal, and push for class diversity instead.
Diversity, of course, is one of the modern buzzwords in the educational world, but like most buzzwords, it can be tough to pin down its actual meaning. When simplistically applied, it often means simply recruiting racial minorities. Now, this is good as far as it goes, but it only goes so far. As much as I believe that race is almost entirely a social construction rather than a meaningful, essential difference between people, the fact remains that being "black" (or "hispanic" or "Asian" or whatever fine distinction one wants to make) is still a different experience from being white. As much as we as a culture have made progress in this regard, it's still true that these groups have a different experience from whites because of their so-called race. As a consequence, "racial diversity" does have meaning and value in our society.
However, more enlightened schools (such as, I'm happy to say, the one I teach at) recognize that diversity is more than skin deep. Each of us has an identity in terms not only of "race" or ethnicity but also in terms of such things as national origin, religion, sexual orientation (or, more broadly, call it "sexual practice" to include such things as libertinism and sexual abstinence--either permanant or for a particular period such as before marriage--as well as what we more traditionally think of under the umbrella of sexual orientation), ability/disability, gender, political views, or socioeconomic status. I may be missing some identities there, but the point is that it's worth remembering that diversity is more than skin deep.
The focus of the On Point show was class. The "elite" schools, we're told, are becoming more and more filled with children of affluence. The main reason pointed to for this is that there is a greater emphasis on test scores, which offers an advantage to students can go to top preparatory schools, have personal tutors, and take classes to prepare for the standardized tests. Mind you, I'm not disparaging this--when it comes down to it, the kid at the elite high school with a tutor and SAT classes in the evening is absolutely working his or her tail off and is earning his or her place at a "good school." The problem ultimately isn't that these students have advantages, it's that other intelligent, hard-working students don't, and if they are left on the outside looking in, it's ultimately a loss not just for those kids but also for the affluent kids too. Yes, I'm absolutely serious about this.
I think it's hard to argue that class doesn't influence how we view the world. America likes to think of itself as one big middle class, but it has never been true. The fact too is that no matter what social class one comes from, one is going to see things in some particular way and all things being equal will have blind spots. Isn't the whole point of diversity, after all, to actually see and have experience with people who are different from ourselves?--in the process, we are allowed to see ourselves more clearly and also to understand other points of view with more understanding and, presumably, compassion. If we are continually surrounded by those who are like us, who've had similar experiences and hold similar views, how will we ever hope to understand our world, our fellow human beings, or ourselves for that matter? In a nation that is seemingly becoming ever more polarized around more or less all of these identities, our schools--the colleges, universities, and private schools at other levels--may be the only places that we are going to be put in direct contact from which we can flinch only with difficulty with people who are truly different from ourselves.
Your thoughts, as always, are welcome.