The Potential of “Racial Opportunity Cost” for Dismantling Racial injustice and Constructing Educational Possibilities

• In Event: Pathways to Educational Justice for Students of Color in STEM and Beyond

Abstract

Racial Opportunity Cost is the culmination of over a decade of research focused on what it costs Black and/or Latinx students to pursue academic achievement in educational contexts where racialized expectations too often constrain the expression of their full racial* identities. This work is particularly relevant within the theme of this year’s AERA conference, which calls, in part, for proposals that “[investigate] and [study] topics that have been unabating, harmful, and disruptive to people’s quest to be self-actualized.” To say this another way, the ROC framework helps us better understand why while these students may have survived these educational spaces, they have not always thrived in them. The ROC framework speaks closely to this theme because one major contribution of the framework is to uncover hidden (and not-so-hidden) challenges high-achieving Black and/or Latinx students face as a consequence of their academic success, but also to better understand the reasons why other racially minoritized students may reasonably opt out of pursuing academic achievement despite being capable because they see the cost of doing so as being too high. Accordingly, the objective of this proposed paper is to discuss the tenets of the racial opportunity cost framework (school factors, capacity factors, intersectionality factors, and racial opportunity costs) within the context of both the symposium aims as well as the overall AERA conference theme of dismantling racial injustice and constructing educational possibilities. The ROC framework is grounded in individual and focus group interviews with 18 self-identified Black and/or Latinx students who at the time of the study were enrolled in one of two highly selective colleges (Northern College and Southern College, both pseudonyms). The Racial Opportunity Cost framework can be used to better understand the challenges that racially minoritized students face and, ultimately, cultivate educational environments in which students are invited to articulate their full selves. By providing concrete information that will empower educators to better support Black and Latinx students, the ROC framework provides a hopeful response to the AERA 2024 Call for “responsible action to know, care, and act.”
*When I use the term “racial identity” I do so with intention to its full intersectional meaning.

Author

• Terah T. Venzant Chambers, Michigan State University