The "caste" system in higher education - and ways to address it

As higher education has become increasingly commodified, hierarchies of quality and elitism have continued to harden. The problem is fairly easy to discern. When higher education is allowed to slip into a caste system of its own, similar to what Wilkerson describes in her book Caste - The Origin of our Discontents (2020). The point in education is that, where faculty and students are sorted into institution environments that are either rich or poor, the impact of caste is perpetuated and perhaps even magnified over time.

A review of Status and Culture... suggests that caste is primarily about seeking status, a point that is obvious in higher education. An important addition offered by David Marx is that the most destructive place in a status hierarchy is in the middle. Why? Because those with the highest status frequently presume to be the change makers setting the standard while those at the bottom literally have nothing to lose by challenging it. Those in the middle continue to fight over who's better than the other while being essentially controlled by the two ends of the continuum.

The brazenness that is possible, and likely necessary, at the bottom is revealed in Reyes' The Purpose Gap. Written to expose the chasm between systems of privilege for white and minoritized groups, Reyes advises Black and Brown colleagues to not rely on white liberal solutions to inequity. The solutions offered by the established hierarchy is to identify "star" and exceptional Black and Brown candidates who manage to succeed even against the odds, when the real solution needs to be creating constellations of excellence where the opportunity gap is bridged. The lack of comparability in minority student degree completion represents a potential of $2.9 billion per year in lost wages. HBCUs have been an important contributor to reducing the economic gap and lack of support for them is a risk to U.S. democracy.

Oh, and by the way, minoritized groups are increasingly taking charge of language. Using Black instead of other words has been around for quite some time. There is now push back on using the presumed non-gendered "Latinx" language. The preference is Latine (plural) for those who identify in singular as Latino or Latina.

The word "caste" was not used by Mintz in his opinion piece "Why implementing a Richer, More Robust Academic Experience is so Hard?" but he clearly identified the gaps among different types of institutions. The caste gaps are systemic and have existed for a very long time, as evidenced in the fact that Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) receive 178 times less in donations than Ivy League institutions. Even though they often have fewer resources, attending an HBCU increases a student's chances of graduating and contributes to a modest increased earnings potential. The challenges of leading an HBCU may be a contributing factor in high turn-over of their Presidents, which in turn undermines their progress. The Blue Meridian Partners pledged $124 million in support for HBCUs to begin to address the imbalance of resources. Addressing the gaps would offer constellations of opportunity and talent and Mintz recommended specific ways that the caste hierarchy should be addressed.

The principles proposed by Mintz are by no means revolutionary. They include commitments to holistic development, an outcomes focus, interdisciplinarity, experiential learning, and pathways to career preparation. Mintz says that we all know that the higher education "system" is disparate and unequal, tantamount to a caste hierarchy. Calling educators to task, Mintz proposes that "We need a call to arms or an appeal to the better angels of our nature: a demand that all students, not just the most privileged, get the kind of higher education that truly engages students, embeds them in a community of learning and provides genuine mentoring, gives them the chance to engage in research and grapple with the biggest issues of our time and of all time, and better prepares them for adulthood." And, when degrees are completed, minoritized students should be informed about, and encouraged to use, networks that privileged students use all the time to secure internship and employment opportunity. Career networking for graduate students is particularly important since graduate school connections contribute to everything from employment to further research and study opportunity.

The perceived value of higher education differs depending on who you ask. Rankings are a highly disputed but often referenced guide to academic supremacy. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are based on research publications, citations, and reputational assessment, measures that may or may not relate to student learning outcomes and positive benefit to individuals and society at large. Federal and state policies are biased toward economic returns, but some educators urge consideration of broader outcomes. Other measures of value might include "civic benefits, such as voting, for example, and volunteering, charitable giving."

Caste and elitism are significant impediments to renewing higher education's contribution to innovation. Mintz reinforced this point in his warning that innovation may be stagnating in our institutions. He suggests that an academic approach may, in fact, be the enemy of creativity and novelty at least partially, if not substantially, because innovation challenges assumed truths and traditions. The way out of this is to return to the intense inquiry of former eras by fostering more active learning around real-world problems.

And, actively engaging real-world problems has to be done in learning spaces that are inclusive of diverse points of view. But finding ways to be more inclusive can be a challenge, especially when revision of a knowledge base can risk cultural appropriation, which can perpetuate previous power differentials rather than challenge them.

The composition of learning communities is obviously at the center of challenging "caste" in higher education. Legacy admissions has been central to many elite institutions, a strategy that fosters loyalty and financial support of graduates and their families. A remnant of discrimination against Jewish applicants in the 1920s, the practice also guarantees the perpetuation of caste which has caused some institutions to move away from legacy preference. Diversity among the faculty is another part of the problem.

The U.S.A. Supreme Court Affirmative Action decision related to college applications led to questions about the preference given to legacies, which may lead to undoing the practice. Maintaining consideration of race increases the likelihood of diverse learners engaged with each other while legacy admission results in the opposite. A commitment to diversification that includes, but attempts to go beyond, race is the University of Utah's "Grit" admits, a strategy focused on learners from diverse backgrounds who have demonstrated resilience in challenging circumstances.

The goal that is most imperiled by caste in higher education is enhancing student learning through diversity and inclusion. As Colleen Flaherty opined, "the best means of promoting student success... means moving beyond the gates of the academy and applying learning in real-world settings in the community. Other times it involves working on diverse teams in the classroom on problems that matter to both the individual and society." The point - it's about engaging real-world questions with a diverse representation of students.