The Chronicle of Higher Education: Standing of American Workers Will Decline Unless Minority Education Becomes a Priority, Report Says
The education and income levels of American workers will decline over the next 15 years if states do not do more to improve the number of college graduates from minority groups, according to a report scheduled to be released today by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
The report, “As America Becomes More Diverse: The Impact of State Higher Education Inequality,” examines the projected demographic trends of the work force and the current gap in educational attainment between white and minority workers.
The decline in educational attainment could put the United States at a competitive disadvantage, and public policy must focus on making education more accessible for all groups, and on better preparing students for college, said Patrick M. Callan, the center’s president.
“There are serious consequences to not educating this population,” such as the outsourcing of high-end jobs, he said.
The proportion of minority workers is expected to reach 37 percent by 2020 — double the level of 1980. Meanwhile, white workers are expected to drop to 63 percent of the work force. The report attributes the demographic shift to the coming retirement of the baby boomers and the increasing number of minority young people.
But members of minority groups are less likely to earn college degrees, and if the current educational gap continues, the proportion of the work force with a college education, or even a high-school diploma, would decrease, the report says. The proportion of the work force with less than a high-school diploma would rise to 18.5 percent from 16.1 percent in 2000, and the proportion with a bachelor’s degree would fall to 16.4 percent from 17.1 percent.
That trend would be seen in nearly all states, the report says, with the largest increases in the proportion of uneducated workers occurring in Nevada, followed by California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and Illinois.
However, if states can close the educational gap so that minority students earn bachelor’s degrees at the same rate as white students, the United States could see the proportion of workers with the degree increase to 20 percent in 2020, the report says.
The drop in the share of the work force with college degrees would also lead to a 2-percent fall in personal per-capita income, from $21,591 in 2000 to $21,196 in 2020, in constant dollars. During the previous 20-year period, that figure grew by 41 percent.
Closing the gap depends on access to higher education, the report concludes, and states must focus on the affordability of higher education at a time when tuition continues to rise but the amount of need-based financial aid is not keeping up. States must also work to ensure that students in elementary and secondary schools are well prepared for college because disparities in early education leave many black and Hispanic students unprepared for college, the report says.
“Education is the most effective intervention available for improving our social and economic future,” the report says. “And given the changing nature of our economy, a high-school education is not enough. Addressing race/ethnic inequalities in higher education will require persistent and meaningful efforts by states to provide postsecondary access and opportunity to steadily growing numbers of undereducated and underrepresented minorities.”
Follow
