Promises, Promises: Agency, Self-Actualization, the Higher Ed Social Contract

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door to freedom.” – George Washington Carver

People generally enroll in college with dreams of creating lives like the ones their parents provided, or better. Ambitious, and often anxious, students enter collegiateAlicia P. Peoples environments aspiring to find answers, solve problems and create systems to support themselves and others.  In preparation, they envision the autonomy to explore personal ideas, expression, relationships and creativity. At any age, collegiate students feel the intensity between their desires for differentiation and longing for belonging and a clear sense of purpose. For communities and families, as well as for the students themselves, higher learning environments are valued as incubators for emerging leaders and change agents for a vibrant society.

The current discourse on the merits of post-secondary education, touches on shifting values and the demand for tangible benefits for the working class. Ideas about the public good of higher education have been eclipsed by private interests and the concept of an individual’s responsibility to contribute to the advancement of society. Education stimulates decision-making, productivity and direct engagement in civil society. However, the higher education social contract is unclear, and convoluted, calling for a transparent agreement establishing more equitable terms.

While a post-secondary degree, even a two-year degree, increases earning potential and social access, substantial benefits that lead to sustainable personal gains greatly depend on a variety of factors. American social systems and social institutions are often operating in contradiction to articulated social goals and outcomes. First generation college students navigate multifaceted and intersectional identities while contending with the barriers related to those identities and social circumstances. Moreover, family relations, friendships, community, and in many cases, employment ties, and entanglements impact one’s growth trajectory. 

Marginalized and disenfranchised populations are often taxed with costs not all social groups encounter. Poverty taxes include increased healthcare costs, penalty costs, opportunity costs, higher borrowing rates, time, inequitable housing costs, etc. For people living paycheck to paycheck, everything takes longer, feels harder, costs more and increases mortality. The challenges facing racialized, minoritized and disadvantaged populations are not explicitly addressed by the strategic plans of higher education institutions. Clear paths to sustainable progress are not guaranteed, outlined or prioritized, creating conditions for disappointment, discouragement and trauma for individuals who have faced generational disenfranchisement and oppression.