tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/opportunity-gap-15362/articlesOpportunity gap – The Conversation2021-03-22T19:00:12Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1554342021-03-22T19:00:12Z2021-03-22T19:00:12ZSo-called ‘good’ suburban schools often require trade-offs for Latino students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390182/original/file-20210317-15-asqp9m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2924%2C1955&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A majority of Americans – including people of color – live in suburbs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-get-pumped-up-during-the-power-california-early-news-photo/1058953822?adppopup=true">Mindy Schauer/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Americans think of the suburbs as exclusive enclaves for white, middle-class people. Yet reality paints a different picture. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145657">recent decades</a> suburbs across the country have rapidly become more socioeconomically, ethnically and racially diverse.</p>
<p>In fact, since <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145657">2010</a> most people in the U.S. – including people of color – call suburbia home.</p>
<p>Pew Research Center notes that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/05/22/demographic-and-economic-trends-in-urban-suburban-and-rural-communities/">175 million people</a> live in suburban and small metropolitan areas, while 144 million live in either rural or urban counties. The Latino community has played a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0504_census_ethnicity_frey.pdf">pivotal role</a> in spurring these changes.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jasH7sUAAAAJ&hl=en">educational researcher</a> who focuses on suburban-urban education, Latino education and racial inequality in schooling, I have interviewed Latino and Latina students about their experiences of belonging at suburban public high schools. Their reflections shine a light on how schools can better support these youth and other students of color.</p>
<h2>Opportunity gaps</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2017.1280755">One in four</a> public school students in the U.S. is Latino, with <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475832822/Challenges-Facing-Suburban-Schools-Promising-Responses-to-Changing-Student-Populations">40%</a> of Latino students attending a suburban public school. Yet much of what researchers know about Latino students is based on urban schools.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2013.822619">broader research</a> on students of color attending suburban schools, however, highlights academic and social trade-offs they face. For example, students of color at predominantly white suburban schools must contend with <a href="https://www.johnbdiamond.com/uploads/6/5/0/7/65073833/american_behavioral_scientist_paper_opportunity_hoardingfinal_7-27-20.edited.pdf">opportunity hoarding</a> – when those with privileged backgrounds build upon their advantages by accumulating more of them. This takes shape, for example, when white parents push to get their children into high-level courses or hire private tutors.</p>
<p>While parents want what is best for their child, these actions <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/despite-the-best-intentions-9780195342727?cc=us&lang=en&">can expand inequality</a>, as not all families are able to navigate schools with the same confidence or ease as parents with racial and socioeconomic privilege. </p>
<p>This has led to Latino high school students being <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/academic-profiling">viewed as less capable</a> by peers and teachers, being <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/02/04/black-history-month-february-schools-ap-racism-civil-rights/2748790002/">excluded from honors classes</a> and enduring frequent <a href="https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.3.0311">microaggressions</a>. </p>
<p>For example, Claudia, a Latina student at a racially diverse high school in a working-class community outside of Chicago, shared, “I wish people knew more about us beyond stereotypes.” She recalled peers saying, “Oh, you’re Latina? You don’t look like a Latina.” As Claudia noted, comments like that treat Latino students as a monolith.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="High school students pass each other in hallway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390437/original/file-20210318-21-vqlg0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">For Latino students in mostly white schools, silence can be an act of resistance and survival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/masked-students-walk-the-halls-between-classes-during-the-news-photo/1271388591?adppopup=true">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Pressure to assimilate</h2>
<p>Another challenge that students I spoke with frequently cited was feeling like they had to downplay parts of their identities to fit in and succeed academically. </p>
<p>Research highlights that this is a result of teachers and school leaders trying to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-01-2018-0007">change or “fix</a>” Latino students and other students of color. Alternatively, schools could empower students to be proud of their cultures and home languages.</p>
<p>On the social front, Latino students often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2020.1758245">find refuge</a> with other Latino students. “I feel more comfortable with Latino students because I’m not competing with anyone,” said Michelle, who attended a predominantly white and well-funded school outside of Chicago. “It’s just easier to talk to them because they’re not gonna judge me ‘cause they know the things I’ve gone through.”</p>
<p>When students of color congregate with one another, teachers and administrators can struggle to understand <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/beverly-daniel-tatum/why-are-all-the-black-kids-sitting-together-in-the-cafeteria/9781541616585/">why they self-segregate</a>, often away from white students. However my research shows these decisions are often acts of self-perseverence and opportunities to be their authentic selves.</p>
<h2>Silenced by whiteness</h2>
<p>Roberto, a classmate of Michelle’s, spoke about how the whiteness of his school created moments where he silenced himself.</p>
<p>“Sometimes teachers would see someone who is quiet, someone who kept to himself,” he said. “But then at other times they would see someone who is intelligent, someone who speaks his own mind. Someone who does whatever he wants.”</p>
<p>Teachers may view silence as disengagement from learning, but for students like Roberto, being silent can be an act of resistance and survival. Being in a mostly white school was difficult, and he felt his perspectives were not always valued. </p>
<p>For example, he and other students in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2020.1796672">my research</a> spoke about teachers seeking to motivate them to do better academically but at the same time implying they were not trying hard enough.</p>
<p>Students like Roberto also wrestled with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613">stereotype threat</a> – when negative stereotypes about their race, gender or other identity increases pressure on them to perform academically. Latino students spoke about having to represent their Latino community, and how making a mistake in class could confirm negative perceptions about them.</p>
<h2>‘We have hella stories’</h2>
<p>The young people I interviewed also spoke about moments they perceived to be treated differently than their white counterparts. As Mia put it, “Special treatment has to do with the power white students have.” </p>
<p>Mia’s experiences taught her that white students were valued and believed over Latino students. This is supported by <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479803682/white-kids/">research</a>, which illustrates the power white students and families wield in schools. </p>
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<p>The students also wanted their peers and teachers to acknowledge their complex lives and ambitions. As a student named Claudia put it: “We have hella stories. I’m sorry to say, but we do.”</p>
<p>Samuel spoke about his teachers not understanding his need to work a job after school. “Teachers say you decide school or work,” he said. “Some get mad at us for not doing the [school]work and thinking we’re lazy.”</p>
<p>While there’s growing recognition of the importance of grit – the ability to persevere in difficult situations - <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2016.1215546">research finds</a> that Latino students and other students of color often already possess it, and educators should consider making things easier for them instead.</p>
<p>Many of the students highlighted their appreciation of their teachers’ efforts to support them academically and socially. In talking about one teacher, a student named Chris noted, “She really likes talking about what’s happening in the world right now. She even asks us about the school: ‘Do the teachers treat you right?’ I know that she cares about us.”</p>
<p>Listening to Latino students can guide teachers and policymakers on how to enact <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465">culturally relevant</a> practices that combat educational disparities and build upon young people’s cultural and linguistic assets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriel Rodriguez received funding to support some of the research he cited from the National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship</span></em></p>US suburbs are rapidly diversifying, but students of color often face academic and social hurdles in suburban schools.Gabriel Rodriguez, Assistant Professor, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/478192015-10-12T07:43:17Z2015-10-12T07:43:17ZAre some kids really smarter just because they know more words?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97941/original/image-20151009-9157-1pk9tj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why is there so much attention being paid to 'word gap'?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakmoore/2032480804/in/photolist-46AZJu-46B1AL-mYPRuq-3s72D-8sX8Y1-98g1F1-dBYVNh-5JNR4o-574B4j-46wZZe-46B2K7-46wRxR-46wNzv-46wQot-46B8gu-46wUM2-46wSKH-46wXFi-46wZui-46wSs6-46wWHk-46wVnD-46wNPg-46x28P-46wPFF-46B6Ru-46wUbT-46wWXR-46wMYv-46wZFB-46wYTg-46B12f-46B3kJ-46AYz1-46B4ZE-46B5Y9-46wYAK-46wP6p-46wWrM-46wY1a-46AUYf-46B3Vq-46B289-46wVWT-46B8BU-46wQ1Z-46wTCi-46wQHF-46wPnB-futTa">Jeff Moore</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why do rich kids end up <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-between-rich-and-poor-studies-show.html?_r=0">doing better</a> than poor kids in school? Of late, one common explanation for this has been the “word gap,” or the idea that <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf">poor children</a> are exposed to significantly fewer words by age three than their wealthier peers. </p>
<p>As a former elementary school teacher and now educational psychologist, I understand the appeal of the “word gap” argument. But, focusing on the “word gap” as an explanation for the <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/35/7/3.abstract">achievement gap</a> between poor students and wealthier students is both distracting and potentially harmful. Such an explanation could allow educators at all levels to both deny and widen this real gap that exists between the rich and the poor kids.</p>
<h2>What is the ‘word gap’?</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Meaningful_differences_in_the_everyday_e.html?id=I2pHAAAAMAAJ">study</a> conducted over 30 years ago first came up with findings that showed there was a “word gap” between children from low-income homes and children from economically advantaged ones.</p>
<p>For this study, researchers entered the homes of 42 families over a span of four years to assess daily language exchanges between parents and their young children. The researchers found that, by age three, children with high-income families were exposed to 30 million more words than children with families on welfare. </p>
<p>The study was subsequently <a href="http://www.susanblum.com/uploads/4/7/2/1/4721639/jla_-_language_gap_forum_2015.pdf">critiqued</a> for its flawed research methodology as well as <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JME-12-2014-0044?journalCode=jme">biased assumptions</a> about families of color and families coping with financial crisis.</p>
<p>However, in the last three years the idea of a “word gap” between advantaged and disadvantaged kids has gained extraordinary public exposure.</p>
<p>References to the word gap can now be seen almost weekly in widely circulated publications. Headlines like “<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/american-kids-are-starving-for-words/381552/">Poor Kids and the ‘Word Gap’</a>,” “<a href="http://hechingerreport.org/make-baby-smart-word-word-chicago-project-says/">How do you make a baby smart?</a>,” “<a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/09/26/351810058/mind-the-word-gap%20">Mind the Word Gap</a>,” “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/16/the-famous-word-gap-doesnt-hurt-only-the-young-it-affects-many-educators-too/">The famous ‘word gap’ doesn’t hurt only the young. It affects many educators, too.</a>” and “<a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf">The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3</a>” are now quite common.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97943/original/image-20151009-9150-jx24fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The attention being paid to ‘word gap’ is harmful.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakmoore/2032474178/in/photolist-46AXLf-7j78MG-HEJ3V-4TMgGK-752R5t-7pCf1C-46wS7F-46x1gx-46AZJu-46B1AL-mYPRuq-3s72D-8sX8Y1-98g1F1-dBYVNh-5JNR4o-574B4j-46wZZe-46B2K7-46wRxR-46wNzv-46wQot-46B8gu-46wUM2-46wSKH-46wXFi-46wZui-46wSs6-46wWHk-46wVnD-46wNPg-46x28P-46wPFF-46B6Ru-46wUbT-46wWXR-46wMYv-46wZFB-46wYTg-46B12f-46B3kJ-46AYz1-46B4ZE-46B5Y9-46wYAK-46wP6p-46wWrM-46wY1a-46AUYf-46B3Vq">Jeff Moore</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>From a place of relative obscurity, the study has now become the “evidence-based” foundation for <a href="http://www.providencetalks.org/">countless</a> <a href="http://dph.georgia.gov/blog/2013-12-20/talk-town-new-language-program-wins-united-way-grant">initiatives</a> <a href="http://talkingisteaching.org/">and programs</a> working to improve the academic achievement of poor children. </p>
<p>I agree that the idea is tempting to embrace, especially when it has received support from high-profile organizations like the <a href="https://www.clintonfoundation.org/our-work/too-small-fail">Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail</a>, <a href="http://tmw.org/">The University of Chicago, School of Medicine’s Thirty Million Words® Initiative</a> and even <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/06/25/empowering-our-children-bridging-word-gap">The White House</a>. But the attention being paid to “word gap” is harmful.</p>
<h2>Why is the ‘word gap’ harmful?</h2>
<p>Students living in poverty currently comprise <a href="http://www.southerneducation.org/getattachment/4ac62e27-5260-47a5-9d02-14896ec3a531/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.aspx">more than one-half</a> of the public school population. Meanwhile, the test score gap between the most disadvantaged children (those in the bottom 10% of the income distribution) and children from wealthy families (those in the top 10%) has <a href="http://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/reardon%20whither%20opportunity%20-%20chapter%205.pdf">expanded by 30% to 40% over the last three decades</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the focus on the “word gap” takes teachers and other educators away from thinking about how to address the larger issue of inequality in education. Instead, it focuses attention on what children do not have in terms of an arbitrary <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jola.12071/pdf">word count</a>.</p>
<p>Following the “word gap” logic, teachers often view vocabulary building as the most important aspect of education. However, in reality, there is a wide scope of early learning experiences that all young children, particularly those experiencing poverty, need to develop. </p>
<p>For example, approaches such as <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10508406.1998.9672056">project-based learning</a> provide students the opportunity to engage with complex topics and construct their own knowledge in addition to developing vocabulary.</p>
<p>Moreover, when we use the “word gap” to identify poor children as behind before they even begin school, that affects their <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3684193.html">teachers’ view</a> of what they are capable of doing. It directs attention toward the things that poor families do not have and <a href="http://www.learninglandscapes.ca/images/documents/ll-no13/michaels.pdf">cannot offer</a> their young children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97945/original/image-20151009-9110-1xungvq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poorer students can be made to feeling less capable because of what they do not know.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/riverarts/4712109575/in/photolist-9sV6M-beeBWF-xEEt8-xEEkg-LSYTf-8bseHW-8bse41-8brZiG-8bp9yr-8bsbcf-8bsfZ3-8bs115-8bpaqv-8bs6XQ-8bsfq7-8bp5vr-8bp4R4-8bsh7Y-8bsknJ-8brY8W-8bspRQ-8bp1az-8bp2ra-8boQLz-8bs6ku-8bs9FW-8bskXh-8brWXj-8bs4V9-8bsbUu-8boRqz-8brYEQ-8boEZp-8bp1Ra-8bs1xd-8boSQa-8bp3bi-8bsgwm-8bp6HR-8boN1x-8bp67R-8bs7CU-8bscDL-8bs4fA-8bsqvo-8boJED-9kigNw-6hDTzb-5h9kbR-51ZxKt">River Arts</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p><a href="http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=10699">Research</a> shows that teachers of poor students and/or students of color often dwell on the experiences and language that their students are missing and default to teaching practices such as vocabulary drills and rote repetition that emphasize obedience and quiet behavior.</p>
<p>Not only do these types of learning experiences <a href="http://hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-84-number-2/herarticle/agency-and-expanding-capabilities-in-early-grade-c">limit students’ opportunities to develop language</a>, they also negatively affect <a href="http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/diversityineducation/n191.xml">students’ views</a> of themselves as learners. Poor students are made to feel less capable because of what they do not know. </p>
<p>Because of the “word gap” and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S1532771XJLE0102_2">other widespread assumptions</a> grounded in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2gvVi8_BesMC&dq=iq+testing+deficit+thinking">deficit thinking</a> – the idea that low-income minority students fail in school because they and their families have deficiencies – many teachers are not tapping into the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00405849209543534">strengths and rich experiences</a> that their students bring to school. Consequently, they deny students the types of learning experiences that allow them to explore, talk and collaborate.</p>
<p>Finally, the “word gap” sends a message to poor parents and parents of color that there is <a href="http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/are-poor-parents-poorer-at-parenting/">something wrong</a> with their parenting if it is different from the practices of affluent, white parents. </p>
<p>It unfairly takes the onus off of schools and teachers to provide sophisticated learning opportunities in which their students can excel and places the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/11/nicholas-kristof-education-disability">blame</a> for failure squarely on parents’ shoulders.</p>
<p>As a result, poor parents and parents of color are viewed as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/28/five-stereotypes-about-poor-families-and-education/">less capable</a> because of what they do not know, just like their children. </p>
<h2>The learning experience gap</h2>
<p>Low-income children are more likely than their higher-income peers to be in <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED365474">factory-like</a> classrooms that allow little interaction and physical movement. As a result, these children spend more time sitting, following directions and listening rather than <a href="http://hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-84-number-2/herarticle/agency-and-expanding-capabilities-in-early-grade-c">discussing, debating, solving problems and sharing ideas</a>. </p>
<p>Focusing on the “word gap” further perpetuates these problematic learning opportunities and deprives children of the types of learning experiences required to develop a range of sophisticated capabilities.</p>
<p>I believe that most parents, regardless of circumstance, would also agree that it is important to engage in conversation with their young children. However, early conversations and exposure to words will not determine whether a child does well in school. Furthermore, poverty is not an indication that parents are not speaking to their young children. </p>
<p>The academic disparity between young children in poverty and children from wealthier families is not a result of what their parents can offer. It is a result of the different types of learning experiences they are afforded at school. </p>
<p>In other words, it is not the “word gap” but the opportunity gap that is the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Molly McManus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers often view vocabulary building as the most important aspect of education. In reality, there are lots of other early learning experiences that children need to develop.Molly McManus, PhD Candidate in Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471662015-09-08T03:42:28Z2015-09-08T03:42:28ZWhat South Africa will be sacrificing by hosting the Commonwealth Games<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94033/original/image-20150907-2002-epv7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seabelo Senatla of South Africa scores a try against New Zealand during the gold medal match of the Rugby Sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Russell Cheyne </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a sports fan, I was disappointed to find myself thinking more about economics than track-and-field events after hearing that the South African city of Durban had been named as the <a href="http://sanews.gcis.gov.za/south-africa/sa-host-2022-commonwealth-games">host</a> of the <a href="http://www.durban-2022.com/">2022 Commonwealth Games</a>.</p>
<p>This turn towards money and its management is to be expected. After all, an all-too-familiar logic these days <a href="http://www.durban-2022.com/assets/files/durban-2022-cg-candidate-city-file.pdf">links</a> the staged sporting spectacle to the creation of jobs through tourism.</p>
<p>In a statement made after the announcement, South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula directed his attention towards money and the <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/South-Africa/Mbalula-Commonwealth-Games-will-be-a-success-20150902">legacy issue</a>. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing really new: essentially, he gave the same assurances that were issued after the country was awarded the <a href="http://www.sa2010.gov.za/">2010 FIFA World Cup</a>.</p>
<p>But just to put the figures on the present table, much less will be spent than the mind-bogging <a href="http://www.southafrica.net/media/en/news/entry/news-media-and-stakeholder-the-2010-south-africa-world-cup-in-numbers">US$3 billion</a> that was spent in 2010. The eThekwini Games (as I predict they’ll become known, as Durban is known in isiZulu) will reportedly cost about US$480 million (R6.5 billion).</p>
<p>But my own reach for the economic, not the sporting, end of all this was not driven by South Africa’s <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2015.pdf">soaring unemployment</a> figures. Nor did I think of another economic point made by the minister – namely, that Durban was well-served by <a href="http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/durban/sportsstadiumsclubs.aspx">stadiums</a> and sporting facilities. </p>
<p>I was also not alive to the fact that most of these mega-sporting events have <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/13816/delhi-2010-cost-16-times-more-than-budgeted-auditors-report">over-run budgets</a> and left both city and national treasuries indebted for decades. This was the worry of Canadian city <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-drops-2022-commonwealth-games-bid-1.2952565">Edmonton</a>, Durban’s only real rival which withdrew its bid in February this year. There is a nagging notion that the 2004 Athens Olympic Games may have triggered Greece’s ongoing <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-08-02/how-the-2004-olympics-triggered-greeces-decline">financial crisis</a>.</p>
<p>It also didn’t immediately occur to me that the Commonwealth Games was small financial potatoes when set against, say, the English Premier League or the American National Football League. Both have enormous TV and branding rights.</p>
<p>These sporting behemoths are not only strangling the 19th-century idea of sport, with its notions of fair play. They have also corroded the 20th-century ideal that sport is a proxy for war.</p>
<p>No, my immediate focus on hearing the news was on the economic concept of <a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/OpportunityCost.html">opportunity cost</a>.</p>
<h2>The opportunity cost</h2>
<p>Known initially as “alternative cost”, this approach to investment decisions was introduced by the Austrian economist and one-time finance minister <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Friedrich_von_Wieser">Friedrich von Wieser</a>.</p>
<p>Closely associated with that often painful truism that <a href="http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/14/time-is-money/">“time is money”</a> opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative option or, put differently, the cost of sacrificing alternatives by making a particular economic choice.</p>
<p>By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the possibility of investing elsewhere in society has been sacrificed. This wider dimension is important because, while the idea of opportunity cost is mostly associated with money, it can be measured across society as a whole.</p>
<p>As South Africa learnt from the <a href="http://www.sa2010.gov.za/">2010 FIFA World Cup</a>, staging sporting events requires not only financial investment but, to succeed, they demand public mobilisation. And, surely, as we build towards 2022, South Africans will be called upon to support eThekwini’s Games.</p>
<p>This mobilisation, too, can be measured in opportunity cost terms. Instead of mobilising for the Games, we could direct public energy into concern for climate change, for example.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children write notes from a makeshift blackboard at a school in Mwezeni village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Ryan Gray</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My economic worry is this: by electing to stage the 2022 Games, what has been sacrificed? More prosaically, what else could we have bought with money and energy we will spend on the Games?</p>
<p>Or, to put a parallel point in the language of the minister for sport, what might be the alternative legacy left both by this investment and the wide-scale public mobilisation? Put in the terms that immediately crossed my mind on hearing the news, what was the opportunity cost of these Games?</p>
<h2>What the money could best be spent on</h2>
<p>International ranking after ranking, comparative study after study, put South Africa near the <a href="http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/education_344.html">bottom of the class</a> when it comes to schooling. </p>
<p>Almost 40 years after Soweto’s brave <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=65-258-3">Class of ’76</a> sacrificed their lives against the poor quality of apartheid education, very little fundamentally has changed. The truth is that we have a national education system which reproduces apartheid. And to speak a wholly unpleasant truth to those in power: successive post-apartheid governments have failed South Africa’s children, as much as apartheid ideologues did.</p>
<p>I believe that it would have been preferable to spend the money and the seven-year social capital we will expend on the 2022 Games on a root-and-branch overall of South Africa’s schooling system.</p>
<p>This could not be another half-hearted fiddling at the edges of the system nor the importation of hare-brained ideas – like <a href="http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-fasrek/pdf/2012/MOUTON%20et%20al%20%282012%29%20A%20Historical%20Analysis%20Of%20The%20Post-Apartheid%20Dispensation%20Education%20In%20South%20Africa%20%281994-2011%29.pdf">Outcomes Based Education</a> – from elsewhere.</p>
<p>To succeed it would have to be to be purposefully driven by a national consensus that no single child should be excluded.</p>
<p>The urgency around schooling might well have been declared in the very same words that eThekwini’s mayor James Nxumalo used on his return from New Zealand, where the announcement on the Commonwealth Games host was made:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The work begins now; the preparations must start now. We must not wait. We must <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/09/06/Can-Team-SA-scoop-gold-in-2022-Commonwealth-Games">not lose a single day</a>, a single hour, or even a single minute. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the many emergencies that will follow in the build up to eThekwini 2022, local rules, routines – and even politics – will have to be suspended as South Africa discovered in the months leading up to the FIFA World Cup.</p>
<p>In the field of education, a declared state of emergency (or urgency) will help remove obstacles which stand in the way of the desired goal: this might well include taming the teachers’ union <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sadtu-must-be-curbed-jansen-warns-zuma-1.1859401#.Ve1foBGqqko">SADTU</a>, the Leviathan that continues to hold up better schooling.</p>
<p>A country mobilised around the national goal of schooling for all – now that will be competition well worth winning – indeed, it may even be one on which economists could agree on!</p>
<p>There is no undoing the decision around the 2022 eThekwini Games, and, yes, with bated breath I’ll be watching the track and field to see how many medals South Africa wins. But in the back of my mind, this question will linger:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Could the money have been better spent?</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Vale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa sacrifices investment in pressing societal needs. Instead, the country should be mobilised around the national goal of fixing schooling.Peter Vale, Professor in Humanities, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/453642015-07-29T20:02:56Z2015-07-29T20:02:56ZThe problem with merit-based appointments? They’re not free from gender bias either<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90099/original/image-20150729-30879-t98sed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=413%2C841%2C4514%2C2390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If we were to evaluate two equally able politicians on their ‘merit’, chances are the man would outperform the woman.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://one.aap.com.au/">AAP/Lucas Coch</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A growing chorus of female Liberal MPs are calling for their party to preselect more women to address the party’s gender imbalance. Sharman Stone wants mandatory quotas, while Teresa Gambaro has called for a 30% target. Now, the most senior woman in the party, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4282651.htm">has joined the fray</a>, saying the party already has targets but that the “overriding element for preselection and election” is merit. </p>
<p>No matter whether it’s targets or quotas, “merit” is always held up as the stalwart gold standard. But can we judge merit without bias? And is merit really the right measure for ability anyway?</p>
<h2>From stereotypes to bias</h2>
<p>At the heart of gender bias lie ideas about what men and women <em>are really like</em>. Stereotypes, or beliefs about characteristics of a group of people, are all around us. They allow for quick decision-making by providing a bit of “pre-information” to guide our judgements. Because a stereotype is a generalisation, it will almost always be wrong in its application to any one individual.</p>
<p>Some gender-based stereotypes are relatively innocent. Many people in Western cultures hold the belief that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hair">women wear their hair</a> longer than men do, for instance. But other such stereotypes are more problematic, especially when it comes to judging whether a candidate is right for a position. </p>
<p>One of these has to do with communion and agency. Communion captures warm, affiliative traits; agency represents traits related to intelligence and leadership. Women <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441921/">rate themselves</a> as more communal than men, and men rate themselves as more agentic than women. This carries into stereotypes: women are generally stereotyped as relatively more communal and men as relatively more agentic. </p>
<p>On their own, these beliefs aren’t necessarily terrible. But, when applied to determining the roles men and women “should” fill in society, bias quickly crops up. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90094/original/image-20150729-30889-c50bnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women are believed to be suited to careers that require communal traits, such as nursing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/5060367479/in/photolist-8HaGXa-NJ9Gp-8J8tSS-m6L6Rg-67XUJ5-7eQ8oy-7Pm5vj-7oqBeW-7Ph6Ee-4YwN8W-w6gXa-7Pm5o9-54TLCU-7Ph61a-7Ph7qX-3KhnEc-EH4pr-8NVmvB-7Ph6b8-7Ph7C4-EH5gK-9h1nyt-arBcQY-7Ph7h2-e1JquV-8PinNd-7Ph67D-6sFJCp-dYXq6k-8Qsenn-5uk7i2-fqGWF-7cGJHM-5j6KuA-3KAVVe-8ddhyv-8J7eQY-77LS25-nooWUU-2gScj-ecJoTv-7Ph5Tz-bXTYow-buGVBk-7Pm5Cm-buGVMk-8J496e-bnwPLx-7voGtx-8SmSFY">JD Lasica/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This idea was pioneered by social psychologist Alice Eagly – and detailed in her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Differences-Social-Behavior-Interpretation-Distinguished/dp/0898598044">social role theory</a>. <a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/content/25/4/413.abstract">Among her findings</a> is the notion that women are believed to be better suited to careers such as nursing and teaching, which are thought to require more communal traits for success. Men are believed to be better suited to careers in politics and science, which are thought to require more agentic traits for success. </p>
<p>Gender-based stereotypes are incredibly prevalent and durable. And they operate not only at the conscious level (the level at which we can have discussions such as these), but also at the unconscious level. </p>
<p>An impressive corpus of social psychological research shows unconsciously held (or <a href="https://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/measuring-implicit-attitudes/">implicit</a>) stereotypes about gender, race, age, sexual orientation, political parties and many more social groups shape social behaviour. </p>
<p>Perhaps most confronting is the fact that even people who generally hold themselves to be gender-blind, <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-racist-you-may-be-without-even-knowing-it-10826">race-blind</a> and so forth, often turn out to hold <a href="http://spottheblindspot.com/">unconscious stereotypes</a> that shape their decisions in biased ways. </p>
<p>This seems a rather dire picture, but <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10794375">there is hope</a>. We can’t erase the existence of stereotypes – nor would we want to, given that stereotypes assist in navigating our social worlds relatively quickly and help form scripts and predictions that keep the cogs of society running smoothly. But we can <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/07/people-are-more-homophobic-than-they-say.html">reduce the bias</a> that comes along <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11708560">with applying them</a>. </p>
<p>Certainly, political parties and society more generally should be doing all they can to hold diversity as an unwavering ideal and to promote all routes to achieve it. And if that means confronting one’s own biases or having uncomfortable conversations with our colleagues and peers, so be it. </p>
<p>But even that may not lead us in the right direction because using merit as the basis for decisions carries its own risks.</p>
<h2>The problem with ‘merit’</h2>
<p>We know those judging merit are subject to making biased decisions – whether they intend to or not. But merit in and of itself can also be <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/why-his-merit-raise-is-bigger-than-hers">biased</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90101/original/image-20150729-30889-1hsnfmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men are thought to be suited to careers that require ‘agentic’ traits for success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/4615583281/in/photolist-82S576-cecMWm-3WZrmd-3rwM1W-p4P5F1-4ptCQF-4ptDgz-4ptCHi-7bCtz5-3ponNk-cesZBC-bWQqmg-DNQuZ-cecN2A-bWQqnc-DNQyU-7hKU7w-vyHmSk-6R7srN-cWcMT7-6Fizy6-4Upta7-avsMDe-pJ75Mr-8tC9Yd-8VENMy-KMG4u-6kmSeK-5VPJh-7pUvWd-65JqEq-3psXdG-8SNxMK-5VXHT1-jQPvLx-aB1BwX-4Upt9q-6UWcua-4Ukn1V-DYjMQ-2bNof8-6LyTgb-MBcAV-dzDRTa-4ptCZT-2KwNTS-3psWKL-v5PXCX-dopM92-gojAYo">US Air Force/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Merit has to be evaluated and hence measured against metrics, which themselves are subject to bias. How an individual performs on various metrics is determined not just by their abilities, but also by the opportunities they’ve had to demonstrate and develop those abilities.</p>
<p>The problem here is that opportunity isn’t equal across genders. Young <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_roles_in_childhood">children</a> are differentially encouraged – or discouraged – to engage in activities according to their gender. Once in their careers, men and women are “tapped on the shoulder” for different roles, also often in accordance with stereotypes. </p>
<p>Further complicating the picture is the undeniable fact that carer responsibilities, including for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/05/working-mothers-need-changed-expectations_n_6801798.html">children</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11043452/Caregivers-are-more-likely-to-be-women-says-American-study-as-daughters-take-responsibility-over-sons.html">elderly parents</a>, often fall to women, thus restricting the amount of time they can dedicate to their careers.</p>
<p>If we are to evaluate two politicians on their “merit”, chances are a man will outperform a woman – even if the two have similar abilities for the role. Until we redress issues of opportunity, merit-based evaluations will remain problematic.</p>
<p>One response to this is to implement quotas – in this view, women with the highest merit will be appointed, regardless of their comparison against men. Another is to encourage evaluation of merit relative to opportunity – an approach explicitly adopted in academia by grantees evaluating applications for research funding.</p>
<p>There’s no silver bullet to achieve gender equity, in politics or elsewhere. But we can leverage our increasing understanding of stereotypes and bias to actively promote equity. </p>
<p>A hard look at our own thinking, the structure of our society and the metrics against which we evaluate others will no doubt be key to the process. There’s nothing, aside from themselves, preventing Australian political parties from increasing the number of women in parliament.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Lisa A. Williams will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 2 and 3pm AEST on Thursday, July 30. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa A Williams receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP130102110, DP130104468, LP140100034).</span></em></p>No matter whether it’s targets or quotas, “merit” is always held up as the stalwart gold standard. But can we judge merit without bias? And is merit really the right measure for ability anyway?Lisa A Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/386222015-03-10T15:32:57Z2015-03-10T15:32:57ZThe growing opportunity gap facing American children<p>On rare occasions, a book frames an issue so powerfully that it sets the terms of all future debate. </p>
<p>Robert Putnam’s <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Our-Kids/Robert-D-Putnam/9781476769899">Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis</a> may do just this for the growing gulf between America’s rich and poor.</p>
<p>I was a member of Putnam’s research team for Our Kids during my studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, where Putnam is a professor of public policy – so I can offer some insights into the research, and explain why the team is optimistic about its impact.</p>
<p>Our Kids is woven from two very different strands of research: part hard data-crunching, part ethnography. </p>
<p>One part of the team analyzed immense longitudinal datasets to draw out novel insights, then synthesized these with existing research. Another part of the team traveled across the country to bring this data to life through detailed, and often disturbing, first-hand accounts of the lives of Lola, Sofia, Elijah and another dozen of America’s children.</p>
<p>What the research reveals is a country dividing in two. Children in wealthy families have access to more opportunities than ever before, while children in working-class families are thwarted by mounting barriers. </p>
<p>Putnam’s hope is to make the opportunity gap the core issue of the 2016 presidential election and he has aligned the stars to make this happen. </p>
<p>Our meetings would sometimes begin with Putnam introducing a hypothetical: if he happened to have a meeting scheduled with Jeb Bush this Friday, what are the two or three messages we would want to get across, and how would we do it? </p>
<p>Putnam has in fact been meeting with President Barack Obama (a former participant in Putnam’s Saguaro Seminar), Hillary Clinton’s team, Congressman Paul Ryan and the current Republican frontrunner for 2016, Jeb Bush.</p>
<p>Obama has since put income inequality and social mobility at the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-focuses-agenda-on-relieving-economic-inequality/2013/12/04/bef286ac-5cfc-11e3-be07-006c776266ed_story.html">top</a> of his agenda, and Bush has called the opportunity gap <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/04/jeb-bushs-middle-class-speech-was-a-historic-shift-and-more-of-the-same/">“the defining challenge of our time.”</a></p>
<p>The purpose of Our Kids is to set this debate into full swing across the country. David Gergen, a former adviser to four US presidents including Obama, has called the “path-breaking” book a <a href="http://robertdputnam.com/about-our-kids/praise/">must-read</a> for both the White House and the wider public. </p>
<h2>Inequality of opportunity: A ‘purple’ problem</h2>
<p>Inequality of opportunity is what Putnam is fond of calling a “purple” problem: it transcends the political divide between red and blue states. Around 95% of Americans agree that “everyone in America should have equal opportunity to get ahead.”</p>
<p>This is perhaps unsurprising. Equality of opportunity is the cornerstone of the American Dream, defined by 20th century historian <a href="http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american-dream/students/thedream.html">James Truslow Adams</a> as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[a] social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable … regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whatever truth this dream once held, the data is indisputable. It is widely recognized that social mobility in the US is now among the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/eco/labour/49849281.pdf">lowest</a> in the OECD. </p>
<p>What Our Kids adds is evidence that this gloomy social mobility data is the tip of the iceberg. </p>
<p>The worst is yet to come: social mobility “seems poised to plunge in the years ahead, shattering the American dream”. </p>
<h2>Rearview mirror driving</h2>
<p>Putnam has long argued that social mobility measures provide only a “rearview mirror” take on the problem. </p>
<p>This is because standard measures assess how social class passes from parents to their children, and logically we can only calculate this once the children have entered their 30s and 40s and demonstrated their full earning potential. </p>
<p>This means today’s social mobility data are a lagging indicator, which only tell us what was happening in children’s formative years 30 to 40 years ago. </p>
<p>To look out the front window and see where America is now – and where it is going to next – we need to look carefully at the formative influences shaping young people today. </p>
<h2>Trouble ahead</h2>
<p>Our Kids begins with a journey to Putnam’s home town of Port Clinton, Ohio, where he graduated from high school in the class of ‘59. This town is the origin of the book’s title: Port Clinton townsfolk called all the community’s children “our kids.” </p>
<p>The research team found that most of Putnam’s classmates, whether born rich or poor, went on to enjoy better lives than their parents. If we set the influence of race aside, social class was only a modest influence on the lives of Putnam’s generation.</p>
<p>Yet the pathways followed by his generation’s children – and their children’s children – have been starkly divergent. </p>
<p>These pathways are illuminated by interviews with young people across the country. They were revelatory even for the research team. Young people who live near one another, but who sit on opposite sides of the class divide, experience utterly different worlds. </p>
<p>The statistical data shows that these individual stories are representative of the lives of millions: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The stable nuclear family is as strong as ever for rich families, while an incredible 70% of poor children live in single-parent families – up from just 20% in the 1960s.</p></li>
<li><p>More than half of American families live in neighborhoods segregated by class, clustering rich kids in high-quality schools and poor kids in low-quality schools. </p></li>
<li><p>Most Americans now meet and marry within their class. Rich kids end up with two high-earning breadwinners and a powerful network to draw upon, while poor kids live with a single parent on a low income, and often find themselves in caring roles. </p></li>
<li><p>While parents’ extracurricular “enrichment spending” on the top 10% of kids has doubled since 1970 to almost $7,000 per year, the bottom 10% kids still receive only $750.</p></li>
<li><p>The gap in elementary and secondary school performance between children from poor and rich families has grown by 30-40% over the past 25 years. </p></li>
<li><p>College attendance is now class-based rather than merit-based. A child is more likely to end up with a college degree if they are not-so-smart or hard-working (bottom third of test results) but are rich, than if they are smart and hard-working (top third in test results) but are poor. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Each of these measures is connected to future earnings. This is why social mobility is set to collapse: today’s low-income children face a deluge of developmental barriers, the effects of which will play out over the next few decades. </p>
<p>The long-term costs of the opportunity gap are expected to be immense, and result in lost labor productivity, increased crime and public health impacts. </p>
<p>Georgetown University economist <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/hjh4/?PageTemplateID=179">Harry Holzer </a>and his team estimate that today’s total <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10796120701871280">cost</a> of poverty is at least $500 billion per year. If Our Kids is right, this cost will continue surging upward.</p>
<h2>Meeting the challenge</h2>
<p>Soaring income inequality is a primary cause of the growing opportunity gap. </p>
<p>The team’s research suggests that the most important prescription is to restore working-class income. Even small increases in income appear to have substantial positive effects on opportunity indicators, from marriage stability to SAT scores. </p>
<p>The next most promising intervention is early childhood education, which has been shown to have positive effects on academic performance, criminal behavior and lifetime income, with an attractive rate of return.</p>
<p>Other levers include social norms, such as shifting the stigma from unwed parenting to unplanned parenting; reducing incarceration rates through softer sentencing for non-violent crimes, such as many of those associated with the war on drugs; and replacing failed community ties with formal mentoring and coaching programs, for both children and their parents. </p>
<p>Low-income children face myriad disadvantages and these call for an equally diverse set of responses. Yet the main message is clear. </p>
<p>Americans’ incomes must once again be made more equal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reuben Finighan was a member of Robert Putnam's research team for Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. He has no ongoing affiliation and receives no benefits from its sale.</span></em></p>Robert Putnam’s new book aims to make the social inequality a core issue in the 2016 campaign: a member of his research team explains how.Reuben Finighan, Senior Research Officer at The Melbourne Institute and Fellow of the ARC Life Course Centre of Excellence, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.