Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Opportunities, Barriers, and Outliers

In many respects, our decision to organize this Outliers Project was based on evidence that “underrepresented” students are, well, underrepresented as participants in major extracurricular intellectual activities at SIUE.

We figured that an interactive, common reading project like ours might advance our goal of expanding scholarly participation and learning opportunities among Haley Scholars--a group that involves one of the largest racially and ethnically diverse mixes of folks on campus.

So after reading Outliers, what’s something that you think university officials should be thinking about more often in order to remove barriers to success that impede large numbers of students of color or underrepresented students at SIUE?

Or, what's a topic that Gladwell raised concerning "special opportunities" that deserves more of our attention for those of us interested in seeing a larger, more diverse group of students succeed?

7 comments:

Joe Brown said...

Fostering opportunites the way that Gladwell described them in the book seems to be very tricky business. The way that he described it made it seem simultaneously and paradoxically concerted action and circumstance. The part we can work with is the concerted action portion, most likely by creating more opportunities for students whether it be increased class sizes, lower tuition, or certain programs removing future penalties for taking cirriculum during summer semesters. If the students work hard and if they have opportunities like but not necessarily these then they will most likely succeed.

Alexis Cortes said...

I think SIUE is doing a great job of helping underrepresented students; There are tons of scholarships available for students in need of financial aid, there was a freeze on tuition this year, there are available night and summer classes, etc. These are just a few of the many examples of how large universities can encourage everyone to succeed, and SIUE is already doing most of them! Even given all of these opportunities, each student, whether they be a minority or not, must take initiative. When a student does this, they control their future and they are sure to succeed.

Gabriel C. said...

I believe that SIUE is doing a great job in removing barriers as it has groups such as the Haley Scholars. Sometimes arriving at new place, such as college, where you know, and come into contact with a very limited group of individuals on a day to day basis is difficult. Groups like the Haley Scholars offer a way for those who may not have come into contact with each other to connect. Students are able to relate to one another and this helps with individual success and along the way knocks down barriers.

Ronald Banks said...

SIUE is doing what they need to do to help underrepresented students. Their plenty of scholarships, low tuition campared to most big time universities. Also they are very helpful with students and financial aid. These are just some of the opportunities they give to these students. Their are classes at all different times to fit your schedule.Their is several different programs on campus that represent this well. SIUE has did a great job with helping there students be successful.

Ralicia Hawkins said...

I think university officials should be more conscientous of not only diverse backgrounds, but also the idea that people would like to pursue diverse futures. Oftentimes, the idea that someone wants to pursue something challenging yet typical is idealized and that isn't always the case necessarily.

Bryan M. said...

SIUE does a good job with minority students. There a plenty of scholarships out there to help out and give plenty of motivation.

Hilary Conrad said...

I like the idea of Haley Scholars being a group of underrepresented students, but I think that we could be more active in making others more aware of this underrepresentation. I would like to see us do something to bring people of different backgrounds/cultures/beliefs together.