The next issue I wanted to bring to light was diversity within the teaching world, and the importance it holds for minority students. According to an American Community Survey, 80 percent of young teachers (individuals of the ages of 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree) varying from the level of elementary to high school are white. This is extremely disproportionate in comparison to the demographics of our nation’s students, which only consists of only approximately 50% white children. On the contrary, while black children make up 13% of students, only 8% of young teachers are black, and while 24% of our country’s students are Hispanic only 9% of young teachers are Hispanic. This leads to a serious issue regarding representation in the classroom. Having a same-race teacher is extremely important to developing young adults, as it provides them with a role model and an example to look up to.
This issue is a vicious cycle, as one of the proposed reasons for this lack of representation in the teaching force stems from disparities in graduation rates. 95% of Asian students and 94% of white students will graduate high school, as compared to 89% of Black students and 76% of Hispanic students. This rate then leads to even more drastic differences within the statistics of individuals with Bachelor’s degrees; take for example that 40% of white students and 95% of Asian students earn a bachelor’s degree while only 21% of black students and 16% of Hispanic students earn one. Less minority students with bachelor’s degrees means less students that will go on to become teachers, thus leading to less minority teachers to serve as role models for younger generations.
Why is it so important to have a same-race teacher? If there is a lack of racial representation within the classroom, minority students may believe they have less opportunity and therefore feel less inspired to further pursue their education. Besides just serving as a role model, a same-race teacher could lead to stronger bonds between students and teachers, and in some cases could even serve as a translator or friend to a minority student adjusting to a different culture. According to findings from the Institute of Labor Economics, an underprivileged black student who encounters a same-race teacher within primary school is 40% less likely to drop out. This elucidates the fact that racial representation in teaching could mean all the difference for a developing young adult.
I think maybe an interesting analogy where we can see some effects are in movies and television. Having that representation matters in some non-obvious ways. There is some inherent comfort in known that somebody has crossed that path successfully already — because like it or not, nobody wants to experience the growing pains of being the pioneer, or the different one.
I found your point about cause of this disparity being linked to the differences in rates of higher education really interesting, especially about it being a vicious cycle that continues to feed onto itself. At a high level, I am not sure what can be done about this problem other than expanding access to higher education and making the financial costs of higher education more flexible.
The statistics you showed in this blog post really just astounded me. It’s extremely frustrating when people belittle the importance of having racial and cultural representation in a child’s life. Whether this is through media, Hollywood, or their learning environment, being represented is always something we should strive for. The statistic you mentioned at the very end, about how Black students with Black teachers are 40% less likely to drop out, should be everywhere. That is such an important fact to hear, and can be used to show that representation within a child’s life really does have positive effects.
The statistics you found really surprised me. I did not realize how disproportionate the amount of teachers to students of color there are. It is important for students to feel represented and that they can be whatever they want to be. They might not realize it, but having a teacher of the same color can make a student feel more safe in a classroom, especially when they are a minority. This also indicates that black history should be taught more in schools. Black history is apart of American history and world history and should be taught to everyone.