Why Race Matters for Higher Education in Prison

ABSTRACT

There has been bi-partisan momentum to provide higher education opportunities for students who are impacted by the criminal legal system, but similar to the context of the contemporary crisis of higher education, the problem of racial inequity persists. The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, a national multi-stakeholder network supporting quality higher education in prison, stated in their most recent report, “programs are ill-equipped to support faculty and staff in reflecting on how race, class, gender, ability, sexuality, and other identity or status markers might impact their interest in, or approach to, teaching in prison, as well as their experiences while doing so (Erzen et al., 2019).” In this spirit, this essay will address issues of racial inequity and injustice within higher education in prison programs—examining issues of faculty diversity, pedagogy, and barriers students impacted by the criminal legal system face in continuing their higher education upon release. In addressing these barriers, there is an opportunity to overcome racial inequity at a massive scale and set an example, both for higher education communities and society as a whole.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ In this paper, we use the term carceral spaces interchangeably with other terms to define spaces with incarcerated individuals.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Satra Taylor

Satra Taylor is a Manager of Higher Education Justice Initiatives at the Education Trust. Satra primarily works on federal, state, and institutional policy issues at the intersection of higher education and the criminal legal system. Satra is a Ph.D. student at the University Maryland – College Park and holds a master’s degree from The University of Michigan in Educational Studies with a concentration in Educational Leadership and Policy, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati.

Jay Holder

Jay Holder is the director of the National Executive Council (NEC) at Columbia University’s Center for Justice, which supports communities simultaneously impacted by poverty and incarceration. The NEC uses an ecological approach to promote personal, community, and social change that supports life-long healthy, human development which is executed by bringing together neighborhood, business, and government leaders to codesign “community-centered” programming & policies around education, arts, economic mobility, and civic engagement.

Bahiyyah Muhammad

Bahiyyah Muhammad, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology at Howard University. She is also founding director for Howard University’s (HU) Higher Education in Prison (HEP) Programming – Co-PI, Mellon Just Futures Initiative for the HU Social Justice Consortium project. She holds a PhD in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, an MA in Corrections Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a BA in Administration of Justice, and a Criminology Certificate from Rutgers University.

Tiffany Jones

Tiffany Jones, PhD, is deputy director of measurement, learning, and evaluation for the post-secondary team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Jones focuses on how higher education policy and practices impact college success for low-income students and students of color and has published for diverse audiences in places like the New York Times. Dr. Jones holds a PhD in Urban Education Policy from the University of Southern California.

Lawrence Haynes

Lawrence Haynes is a third-year doctoral student in the Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies program at Howard University. His research interests include higher education policy implementation, equity, and student success initiatives.