Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2023)

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Browsing Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2023) by Author "Berk, Luca"

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    Culture in Higher Education: Understanding the Dimensions of Educational Inequality
    (University of Oregon, 2023-09) Berk, Luca
    By connecting historical context and a statistical review of the present-day consequences of White hegemony within higher education, I argue that the exclusion of students of color in higher education by means of cultural isolation is a verifiable issue today. The distinctive habits, customs, and norms of White, Anglo-Saxon, protestant (WASP) cultural practices function as a system of gatekeeping, limiting access to higher education for communities of color that cannot conform to these cultural practices. While the barriers that disproportionately block students of color from accessing higher education were initially a formal institution of segregation—which was since outlawed—universities still contain vestiges of this system, continuing to extend cultural barriers that inhibit minority students seeking access to higher education. Statistical analysis of the discrepancies in success rates of students of color and White students demonstrates the material outcomes of unequal access within higher education. While some scholars point strictly to economic factors or different individual aspirations or values to explain these discrepancies, these theories fail to address the root causes of the inequalities that minority students face—namely, that historically segregated systems remain ineffective at fostering diverse and representative student bodies. By actively recognizing these systems as fundamentally unjust by design, the conversation regarding how to fix or approach racial inequality in higher education can be effectively begun.