Educating Inequality
Beyond the Political Myths of Higher Education and the Job Market
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Book Description
Politicians and school officials often argue that higher education is the solution to many of our social, and economic problems. Educating Inequality argues that in order to reduce inequality and enhance social mobility, public policies are needed to revamp the financial aid system and increase the number of good jobs. Exploring topics such as the fairness of the current social system, the focus on individual competition in an unequal society, and democracy and capitalism in higher education, this important book seeks to uncover the major myths that shape how people view higher education and its relation to the economy. Looking to models that generate economic mobility and social equality, this book advocates a broader vision for public higher education to promote universal equality and global awareness.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: The Politics of Higher Education
Chapter 2: College and the Myth of the Good Job
Chapter 3: Why Higher Education Reduces Social Mobility
Chapter 4: The Myth of the Fair Meritocracy
Chapter 5: How College Changed Childhood, Education, and Parenting in America
Chapter 6: Training Undemocratic Capitalists
Chapter 7: The Death of the Liberal Classroom
Chapter 8: Will Technology and the Free Market Save Higher Ed and the Job Market?
Conclusion: Educating Equality
Author(s)
Biography
Robert Samuels is a Lecturer in the Writing Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Reviews
"Myth-busting and merciless, Bob Samuels demolishes cherished fantasies about equality and opportunity in our universities. Instead he offers a comprehensive plan for social change that, if implemented, would radically re-shape the relationship between college, society, and the economy."
-Marc Bousquet, author of How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation and Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, Emory University, USA"Americans tell themselves a number of stories about the role education plays in who ends up doing what job for how much money. A few of the stories are true, but most are recited just to soothe ourselves to sleep. In Educating Inequality, Robert Samuels makes readers face the dark—and shows us that there are ways to make it less scary." -John Marsh, author of Class Dismissed: Why We Cannot Teach or Learn Our Way Out of Inequality, and Associate Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University, USA