A critical race theory analysis of the ‘demographic diversity’ gap in schools: college Students of Color speak their truth

ABSTRACT

The shortage of Teachers of Color relative to the growing racial/ethnic diversity of the U.S. public school student population has caught the attention of many educators and policy makers. Several factors contribute to this teacher-student demographic diversity gap, especially the lower numbers of college Students of Color, relative to white students, enrolled in teacher education programs. Using a Critical Race Theory framework and qualitative data, this study examined the perceptions of college Students of Color about the teaching profession. Findings reveal that college Students of Color are not interested in pursuing careers in teaching because they feel that: 1) teachers are underpaid and undervalued by society; 2) teachers are negatively represented, and Teachers of Color are underrepresented, in media and popular culture; and, 3) the cumulative negative impact of the racial microaggressions they experienced over the course of their schooling has discouraged them from considering teaching as a profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Racism
• teachers
• Students of Color
• racial microaggressions
• media
• careers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) Great Teaching and Leading Fund (GTLF) [17-248-4100].