The Academic Pipeline Problem: A Local, National, and Global Dilemmaa

Many societies embrace the ideals that their children will have equal access to school and advance through their merit. However, worldwide, as children move through primary and secondary school towards college, the number of immigrant, ethnic minority, and low–income youth who continue through school shrinks disproportionately, and troubling gender gaps also appear. This academic pipeline problem for the United States is the attrition of students in five ethnic groupings between high school and attaining graduate degrees. This global dilemma is intensifying as immigrant, refugee, and ethnic minority youth make up growing segments of primary school students in many nations. This book presents recent advances in research, practice, and policies by social scientists, educators, and policymakers that address the academic pipeline problem. It invites readers to compare viewpoints and ask their own questions about the roots of and remedies for the pipeline problem. This chapter introduces the academic pipeline problem, defines culture from perspectives across the social sciences, compares social capital, alienation, and challenge models used to address the pipeline problem, introduces its five core questions, and gives an overview of the book.