"Not Present in Our Ranks": Exploring Equitable Representation in Student Voice Efforts for Policy Change

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Youth Identity Formation in Organizing for Educational Justice (Table 4)

Abstract

Increasingly, students take a role in trying to shape and influence policies that affect them. We examine two state-level student voice organizations aiming to change educational policy to understand how they try to generate equity and representation in their membership and activities. We find that although both groups set equity as an important part of their vision and create structures for representation, membership in both groups remains primarily composed of students from historically privileged groups. It appears that adult support, centralization of group activities, and student concerns about tokenization play a part in why intention and reality are not aligned.

Authors

• Samantha E. Holquist, Child Trends

• Jeff Walls, Washington State University