MINORITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The biggest reason why minority entrepreneurship is lacking in America today is because the American education system is failing its minority students. According to a study done by the National Center for Education Statistics, the majority of minority students lag far behind non-minority students in almost every area at every level of school. The only racial group to be as successful or more successful than white students is Asian-Americans, due to the fact that they are the only racial minority group to be financially well off. The other racial groups, Black, Hispanic, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian, all fare significantly worse in school. The NCES gave tests to 4 year olds to test their letter and shape recognition, and in these tests, the four groups listed in the last sentence all scored lower on their tests than White students did. Additionally, tests were also given to 4th graders, 8th graders, and high school seniors to help test their reading and mathematics skills, and in all three age groups a vast majority of Black, Hispanic, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian students are considered to not be at a suitable level for the level they are at in school. A large part of these educational problems are the fault of the schools themselves. A report released by the U.S. Department of Education in 2014 found that the American public school system does a poor job in offering quality preschool programs for it’s students, especially the minorities who tend to live in lower-income areas. Also in the report is a section stating that racial minorities have significantly more restricted access to many of the Advanced Placement courses that are essential in preparing students to advance their academic careers (Department of Education). Both of these findings are very problematic because they show that for the most part, minorities do not have an equal chance to receive a quality education, which puts them at a disadvantage as early as the age of 4. This disadvantage is even more clear when comparing success in the previously mentioned Advanced Placement courses. When comparing scores for the main examination in these AP courses, scored on a 1-5 scale, on average Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students were not even .4 points away from the overall average score (Department of Education. In most subjects, students from these three groups only successfully passed these tests roughly 30% of the time, compared to roughly 60% for White and Asian-American students (Department of Education). As could likely be expected Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students also score significantly lower on the SAT and ACT tests as well (Department of Education). This in turn leads to significantly fewer minorities being enrolled in college, where the majority of business skills are actually learned. Many people might say that it is up to the individual to take responsibility for their own education. I would disagree with that assertion in this instance for two reasons. The first reason is that we can’t expect our children to know what is best for their future and hold them accountable for that. The reason that schools exist is to help them prepare to be successful when they do finally reach an age where they can be responsible for themselves, which leads me to my second point. America has not given these children a fair shot to put themselves in a position where maybe they would be able to eventually either go to college and continue their education or to go into the real world and have the skills needed to be successful. Once people go out on their own and aren’t equipped to be successful, it becomes much more difficult to be motivated enough to want to better themselves, so it is essential to do this in elementary, middle, and high schools. The best way to fix this problem is just to increase awareness that there is a problem here. I knew just from general knowledge that the public school system, especially in lower income areas, is not up to the standard that it should be, but I never knew the extent to which it damages the students attending these schools. As seen in a few of the sources cited in this paragraph, the federal government knows that there are problems, and seems to be attempting to address these issues, but, as seen in many different issues ranging across almost every area of interest, the most effective way to make things change is to get public support behind an issue. If more people knew that these kids aren’t even receiving a fair shot at bettering themselves, I fully believe that society would be able to enact some kind of positive change to at least get the ball rolling in the right direction for America’s youth.