How the Construct of Grit Helps Neoliberalism Thrive in the Exploitation of Black Students

• In Event: 68.053 - Neoliberalism in Black Education: Research, Reform, Reproduction, and Resistance

Abstract

Neoliberalism—in addition to denying or downplaying the role of racism in the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students—enables constructs such as grit to further stratify the educational landscape. Neoliberal ideology purports that the government and its social policies are the problem, that privatization and free enterprise are the only solutions, and that these solutions are ethical, moral, and just. Neoliberalism operates under the assumption that if free enterprise is allowed to reign over every facet of of our society, everyone will be better off, even those who have been historically disadvantaged. The concept of grit has been employed as a useful tool in the arsenal of neoliberal educational politics.
Grit, described as perseverance and passion for long-term goals and often operationalized as mental toughness and steadfastness in maintaining a drive for one’s long-term goals, emphasizes autonomous, individualistic, engaged students. Gritty students are characterized as being skilled at performing continuous calculations of risk and opportunity for self-interested outcomes, and thrive in the form of traditional academic and career rewards. The construct of grit is well suited to promoting the neoliberal agenda because it masks the cumulative effects of living and learning in a society characterized by White dominance and privilege by reducing educational success to personal agency and drive. This educational restructuring cultivates a hierarchical system of inequitable distribution that harms Black students. Grit aligns with this ideology by mandating student responsibility for their educational outcomes while ignoring within-school segregation, racialized tracking, or inequitable resources that disproportionately affect Black students.
This manuscript takes a critical view of grit and neoliberal thought. The growing emphasis in educational research on the grit of Black students tends to coincide with neoliberal education policies and programming aimed at self-reliance and mental toughness. The obsession with grit has primarily come from suggesting that grit and other neoliberal constructs serve as a cure for the so-called failure of character of Black students, which is seen as accounting for poor academic outcomes. Many schools and programs have accepted such neoliberal practices and policies, concluding that grit is a determining factor in the success of students without thoroughly examining the construct's validity. Notably, a recent meta-analytic review of the grit literature, representing 66,807 study participants has established that the impact of grit has been grossly exaggerated and that it is nearly identical to conscientiousness, and grit is essentially much to do about nothing (Credé, Tynan, & Harms, 2016). Nevertheless, neoliberal principles of individual choice and competition—as measured, for example, by the percentage of high school graduates who go on to attend elite universities—continue to permeate our educational system, particularly charter schools. Reliance on grit provides insurance for our racist educational system by silencing the function of racialized social systems in education, in which the economic, educational, political, and social ideologies routinely advantage White people while producing chronic adverse outcomes for Black students (Bonilla-Silva, 1997). Thus, grit is a racist construct and just like neoliberal education policies and practices it continues to abuse and exploit Black bodies and minds.

Author

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College