Summary
The Main Idea of the Article
The article’s main idea is that black students are underrepresented in some of the key areas of study: engineering, education, mathematics, statistics, and physical sciences. The reason for this is the unwillingness of universities to fully acknowledge the impact of structural racism and bias against students of color. Therefore, the article’s author calls for a change in the practice of enrolling applicants through rethinking the ‘cream skimming’ principle.
The Main Points of the Article
In short, the author gives many useful statistics for a large study. This applies both to the low number of university graduations among black students as well as serious barriers in the process of passing preliminary exams. The key part starts when the author gives policy advice. She recommends providing education to all students who meet its admission criteria and organizing various tutoring and support programs before the start of the school year.
Analysis of Information
Personal Reaction to the Information Revealed in the Article
The first reaction was the surprise at the magnitude of the problem. After reading the article, it became clear that the problem of racial differences in education requires immediate action. However, another reaction was confusion about the author’s proposals on how to convince policymakers to change the status quo. It seems that some stakeholders will deny many changes in such a straightforward way.
The Most Important Information in the Article
The most important is the final part, containing concrete steps to overcome racial inequality. The reason is that the problem itself has already been described and conceptualized enough times in the scientific and journalistic environment. At the same time, the authors often leave the problem unsolved. The way the policy proposal is written in Libassi’s article is a great addition to the recommendations part of future research.
Interpretation of Information
Thus, this article will be a useful complement to the literature review in a future study. The author uses graphic data to illustrate the huge problems of racial injustice and systematizes the various lines of imbalance. In addition, it is possible to disagree with certain parts of the article, such as the final policy proposals, which will contribute to the description of disagreements between scholars.
References
Libassi, C. J. (2018). The neglected college race gap: Racial disparities among college completers. American Progress. Web.