Four Strategies to Support Economic Mobility at Your Institution
COVID-19 has shined a spotlight on the disparities across the country. Many higher education institutions are reevaluating their role in economic development, prompted by a renewed and widespread interest in addressing disparities in education, healthcare, food access, and economic opportunity at the institutional and community level.
As leaders of economic growth and social reform within their locality, institutions must turn innate economic activity into strategic initiatives and audit intentional economic development programs to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. Even as budgets tighten and strategic plans stall, institutions can still act with intention—leveraging their built-in economic impact, drawing on institutional expertise, and strengthening partnerships with community leaders.
Read on for context on the impact of COVID-19 and four strategies higher education leaders can adopt now to advance economic mobility.
Disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BIPOC and women
To ensure recovery activities are just, higher education leaders must first understand how the economic impacts of COVID-19 vary by race and ethnicity.
Due to the history of redlining and other racist policies, Black and Hispanic/Latino people are more likely than white Americans to live in densely populated areas, increasing their likelihood of contact with a large number of people.¹ These areas usually have limited access to healthcare resources and healthy food options, causing disproportionate rates of co-morbidities like hypertension and diabetes. As a direct result of these realities and the historic lack of funding for community resources in these neighborhoods, communities of color have greater rates of COVID-19 infection and death. Black and Hispanic/Latino death rates for those ages 45-54 are six times higher than for white people within the same range.²
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Black and Hispanic/Latino death rates for those ages 45-54 are six times higher than for white people within the same range.
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