The Educational Pipeline and Diversity....-gctid51700

[NyameNti]

Just finished perusing through one of the many journals received and found it appropriate to share:

According the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the educational pipeline in general terms is an integrated system of institutions,
from primary schools to universities, that seeks to attract students to college with a goal of augmenting the percentage of skilled, knowledgeable
individuals in the workforce.  The emphasis in the general educational pipeline is on the socioeconomics of education-by involving the community, businesses, and parents-and on funding low-income school districts to foster improvement in basic academic skills and assisting first-year college
 students in attaining academic success.

The ultimate goal is to capitalize on the economic benefits of the higher salaries and lower need for social service resources among college graduates.
Before highlighting the key points in the article, it is important to note, that this is the 2nd article written regarding this topic.  I find in the world of
academia they discuss more and more of the same with very little result.

The article literally began: " As practitioner diversity has long been a concern in allied health care, it's no surprise that a profession whose face is predominately white and female would look inward and outward for remedies."

Key points:
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• Data from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) show that in 2007, whereas whites comprised 59.9% of the student body in medical schools, black student body represented 6.4% and Hispanics 7.2% of medical students.
• In my field (the main topic of the article) only 11% of practicing members identified as belonging to a racial or ethnic minority group.
• The skyrocketing cost of higher education-medical school in particular-is a significant deterrent for underrepresented minority and low-income students. Thus, these students will often select careers where financial stability is more easily and quickly attainable.

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 The author also made it a point to clearly state that "diversity defined as belonging to a racial or ethnic minority group is quite narrow, and therefore the objective is not the best served if clearly identified student cohorts are defined as blacks, eurasians or similar. Flexibility in how underrepresented is defined is key."

The latter point will continue to be used in the eureurasiaan's decision processes regarding placement in universities and employment.
The check the "other box" may have more of an increasing role to play than we could have ever imagined.

In California, which successfully banned race-based admissions in 1996, there were immediate effects noted:
In 1993, 233 minority residence had been accepted, the number dropped to 157 in 1997 and 156 in 2001.
  The college admissions for students of color continued to drop across the board.  You study hard, you are disciplined...but will you be allowed in?