Access Is Not Inclusion: Meet the Harvard Professor Who Studies Low-Income and Disadvantaged College Students

“Education alone does not erase generations of exclusion, racism that we see in the housing market, that we see in the job market, that we see in the very DNA of this country.” — Professor Anthony Jack, Ph.D.

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When I was in high school, I was an idealist—especially when it came to my education.

“If I study hard, get wonderful grades, and join the right extracurriculars, I’ll definitely earn some major scholarships and get into a top school.”

Fortunately for teenage Jessica, I did those things. But the older I get, the more I realize that the U.S. educational system isn’t as simple as 1 + 1 = 2. In fact, there is so much talk around addressing and reforming the current American education system and its policies, that it’s definitely becoming one of the hottest topics ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In a conversation with The Root, Harvard professor and author of The Privileged Poor, Anthony Jack, Ph.D., lays out what students of color and low-income students need to feel truly included at their institutions of higher learning, what the college admissions cheating scandal earlier this year reveals about America’s hypocritical school processes, and why education may not be the great equalizer.

Check out more in the video above.