Challenging Status Quo and Moving Toward Culturally Sustaining Postsecondary Pathways

• In Event: The Challenges and Opportunities of Implementing Equity Policies in Higher Education

Abstract

Persistent racial disparities in access, participation as well as opportunity and completion gaps permeate higher education. While Guided Pathways has more tightly coupled specification of courses articulated to programs of study with less likelihood of credit loss, it was not designed as a panacea to racial equity gaps in degree completion. Hence, there is stratification in pathways that contribute to significant racial inequities in transfer and credentialing particularly for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx adult learners 25 years and over. There is a dearth of research that centers racially minoritized adult learners’ experiences as they often are cloaked in a veneer of invisibility, overlooked, undervalued and marginalized (Jain & Crisp, 2018; Shapiro et al., 2017; Sissel, Hansman, & Kasworm, 2001). Embedding racial equity consciousness is needed in postsecondary pathways. The presenter will share findings from two studies and highlight recommended remodeling of pathways that can build capacity, align and design with racial equity in access, opportunity, and completion as a central goal for those who have been most adversely impacted and experienced inequities in the higher education system. Based on their field studies with colleagues, the presenter will discuss how to align key features of the Guided Pathways model alongside intentional strategies that reflect culturally sustaining practices that can more readily address disparate educational experiences, and degree/workforce outcomes for adult learners of color.

Author

• Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author