Free Essay. Media Analysis-Minorities in Education

Education is a primary human right, though across regions minorities and some indigenous children are being deprived right to quality education. The term diversity is widely used in collages and often perceived as their selling point. Therefore, diversity mean tribal affiliation, race or ethnicity but it goes beyond to income levels, sexual orientation and identity, cultural background, first generation status and gender. However, depending on the college's needs in a given class the term can mean more than the stated aspects above. From a number of articles, the paper will scrutinize them to understand their perspectives or biases on matters minorities in education.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

According to an article written by Lam (2018), on diversity fatigue is real, she asserts that diversity afflicts mostly to the persons who are dedicated to diversity work. For those practicing diversity in college education are perceived to be politically correct. Others are just tired of diversity which they perceive to be a diluted or co-opted and thus meaningless. For the persons of color in such institutions feel that the term is principally used for the purposes of branding. There are some familiar realities about diversity among academics of first generation and color scholars.

Diversity puts such students to deal with anger, frustrations, uncertain resources, additional family care and devaluation void of mentorship. For the teaching staff, they assume heavier workload in mentoring, advising, training, recruitments and counseling among other service work. As they find the work exhausting, the institutions enjoy the collective gain in success of the students. On teaching contributions and research works, folks who contribute little or nothing on diversity continue to be rewarded. For the graduate students are faced with similar departmental and disciplinary frustrations and tensions but have limited resources compared to other faculty members. In most of institutions, graduate students who are proactive on matters diversity ends up bowing to pressure and hence failing to continue with professoriate. In boosting retention, there is need to understand how deep-seated institutional ladders perpetuate discriminations can help a lot. There is need to assertively address the college-climate issues, maintain and keep Persons of color in colleges either graduate students or faculty members (Lam, 2018). Therefore, diversity work cannot be perceived as remedial or supplemental that is only utilized in times of promotions or crises. Thus, for diversity in education to work in colleges, it has to be deliberate daily life for the institutions and everybody.

Moody (2020), in his work on diversity in collage and why it matters, believes that different perspectives as a result of diversity gives students an opportunity to learn from each other. Students learn from their peers with diverse perspectives which are modeled by a number of experiences. For the students being able to understand and appreciate diversity, their learning is elevated to different levels. The latter also informs how students are able to position themselves in their own opinions and thoughts. Colleges may show laxity in implementing diversity and consequently minority students face some difficulties.

In understanding college's stand on diversity, graduation rates and applicants should identify with their counterparts in such institutions. In addition, there is need to understand if diversity is reflected in staff and faculty ranks. The results would thus show the level of commitment to inclusion and diversity in a college. In leveraging on diversity, minority students should perceive their diversity as an asset that they are bring along to the college to enhance educational experience for all learners. During application, minority students should consider the programs and values that attract them in college. In addition they should bring out the aspect of diversity as something of importance to them and link it to various aspects that runs in the college.

In times of application, students should present themselves honestly on how they understand their own identity. It is a big issue for a minority student to out rightly lie about their identity. All applicants should stay true to their very own identity. Basically if one has to lie about their identity, then such position they are applying for isn't suitable for them. From the article, minority in education have a responsibility to leverage on their diversity. Their identity should be explained in terms of how much they would contribute to the well-being of other learners. Regardless of what the institutions profess about diversity, students' personal believe and what they can offer is what gives them some millage in getting admissions and enjoying school life.

Students' sense of belonging according to Elin (2020) varies by institution and identity. A study shows that first-generation and minority learners possess a higher sense of belonging at the 2-year college as compared to their counterparts in 4-year institutions. A better sense of belonging among learners in 4-year institutions is evident and that leads to high rate of academic and personal success in college experiences. In addition, for the students who possess a high sense of belonging as early as their first year, they do better compared to their peers. When minority of student's population do not feel strong sense of belonging on their colleges, it directly impacts how they perform, persist or integrate.

In addressing the existing disparity first-generation and minority students who do not feel that they belong, institutions should have role models and faculties of color so that students do not feel estranged. Leviticus 19:34, the foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. From this verse, God wishes that we dwell with one another across all sectors with love and as one people. Therefore, in education sector we are encouraged to treat each student or faculty with decency because we all belong to the same father. Therefore, institutions need to focus on learners who begins at the lower levels of the scale because they are normally at a higher risk of poor results regardless of their status.References

Elin Johnson, (2020). Minority students' sense of place higher at two-year than four-year institutions. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/02/minority-students-sense-place-higher-two-year-four-year-institutions

Lam, M. B. (2018). Diversity fatigue is real. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Diversity-Fatigue-Is-Real/244564

Moody, J., 2020. Diversity In College And Why It Matters. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/diversity-in-college-and-why-it-matters.