1950's Equality

Since the 1950s, the equality of education has certainly improved in regards to race/ethnicity, socio-economic status and/or gender/sexual orientation. However, we still see major gaps in education especially in racial and ethnic populations. Title IX 1972 has absolutely improved the equality of education for females since the 1950s. Women have even surpassed males in obtaining degrees which is a major difference than in the 1950s when women hardly attended college. Gaps in certain areas, especially in STEM fields, still exist between genders. In 2006 women made up 51% of the population but only 20% of science and engineering careers. This would suggest that there are still inequalities in some fields between genders even with major improvements

since the 1950s.
In reading 7 ,Chilly Classrooms for Female Undergraduate Students, women in college discuss the attitudes they have faced in college classrooms. In universities we still see “chilly” attitudes towards females in education. Out of about 400 students, 58% of women experienced men taking leadership roles, while 55% reported sexually suggestive stories/Jokes. 40% of women felt the need to cencor themselves in class while 37% reported disparaging comments about women’s behavior. 35% of women reported being interrupted by men and 33% reported sexual gestures towards them. 43% of the women reported that men often received the most attention in class. These statistics would suggest that there is still negative bias and attitudes towards women especially in higher education.
There are also still issues with different treatment of males and females in school.

In reading 16 ,Becoming a Gendered Body, we read about how our movements, postures, and gestures are gendered and how this starts in Kindergarten. For example, boys were restrained physically more than females, which specialist suggest increases disruptive behavior from boys. It was found in multiple classrooms that around 60% of girls in preschool were found to wear pink everyday wile boys would not wear it at all. Little girls were already aware of how act in dresses which restricted movement. Formal behavior was also encouraged in girls while relaxed behavior was more encouraged with boys. These differences, although small, shape children gender and how they perceive

it.

Racial differences in education are still evident today and show the biggest gaps in standardized testing.

Although we still see issues in education with race/ethnicity, opportunity and inclusiveness has certainly improved from the 1950’s after minorities were desegregated around 1954. In 2012, around 51% of black males graduate high school nationally. However, in some places such as Newark New Jersey, white and black male graduation rates in high school have become similar, with black students even surpassing white male students. However, the gap between black and white males has slightly increased from 2009 to 2013. White males are still generally placed in gifted and talented programs three times as much as black male students. In the 1960s black students accounted for one percent of students in predominantly white schools in the south. By 1986, black students accounted for around 40 % of students. However, this number dropped to about 30% by 2000. These trends show that even with major improvement in racial equality in education, there are still major issues impacting minority’s success in education and opportunities when compared to Caucasians. Nationally there is around a 20% difference in graduation rates between African-American students and white students. Under represented minorities made up around 30% of the population in 2006, but only accounted for less than 20% of engineering and science

occupations
Charter schools are starting to show high amount of segregation as we saw in reading reading 36, Charter Schools and the Risk of Increased Segregation. Charter schools can potentially be chosen because they align with certain ideas and values, making it so that a certain population makes up most of the school attendees. This is partially due to schools targeting a certain group for applications or through curriculum. In many ways this is taking a step backwards from how many public American schools are a mix of religion, income, race, and ethnicity.

Socioeconomic status is still causing issues with education quality today. If anything the rising cost of college has made it harder for many low income families to afford higher education or private schools. In the last 40 years college completion rates have not moved for low-income families. Different material realities make it so that low income families do not have access to reading material, tools, and tutors. Children from low income families are brough up in ways that impact the social capital and human capital they need to succeed.
In reading13, Coached for the Classroom: Parents Cultural Transmission and Children’s Reproduction of Educational Inequalities, Middle class parents tend to teach their children to use the by-any-means method of problem-solving. This style teaches entitlement and to feel deserving of help. Students who are raised under this style will talk to teachers when they are not doing well or have a problem. Working class parents often use the no excuse method of problem solving. In this style there is an emphasis on constraint and hard work. Parent who often follow this style believe the teachers know best and their children are less likely to ask for help. These differences between low income and their income families contribute to the disparities between different family incomes and socioeconomic status.