ERIC Number: EJ1173468
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-1822
EISSN: N/A
Achieving Equity through Applied Liberal Education
Rodicio, Lenore P.
Liberal Education, v104 n1 Win 2018
Over the past fifty years, college enrollment has increased by over 650 percent. Nearly 20 million students are now enrolled in higher education, and these students are more racially diverse than ever: by fall 2015, over 40 percent of students were nonwhite, compared with just over 15 percent in 1976. As the student population has diversified, equity has become a popular goal for higher education institutions; but finding a common definition for equity is difficult. Achieving equity is not simply a matter of diversifying the student body. At its core, equity means providing each and every student with opportunities to attain comparable goals. The question then becomes, What are these goals? Measuring the number of college degrees produced is not enough; more important are the experiences that shape who students become. How well do teachers train their students to think critically? How well can graduates express their thoughts and argue their viewpoints? Can they sift through facts, misinformation, myths, and propaganda to identify truth? Most importantly, can they apply their learning to solve real-world problems? Most educators would argue that these outcomes may be more important than the degree itself. However, these essential outcomes of a liberal education cannot be attained haphazardly, and will only be available to students if teachers intentionally provide opportunities designed to elicit them. In this article, Miami Dade College (MDC) executive vice president and provost, Lenore Rodicio, describes what higher education institutions need to do to address these challenges. Using MDC as an example, she illustrates how transformation can occur in a single student, a campus, and a community when liberal education opportunities are provided in an accessible and equitable manner.
Descriptors: Equal Education, General Education, Higher Education, Outcomes of Education, College Students, Teacher Student Relationship, College Administration, College Faculty, Academic Achievement
Association of American Colleges and Universities. 1818 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 800-297-3775; Tel: 202-387-3760; Fax: 202-265-9532; e-mail: pub_desk@aacu.org; Web site: http://www.aacu.org/publications/index.cfm
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida (Miami)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A