“What Keeps Me in School”: Oregon BIPOC Learners Voice Support That Makes Higher Education Possible

Abstract

A growing number of college students are nontraditional learners (age 21–65) who are people of color. These students face unique challenges in a higher education system increasingly shaped by neoliberalism and the ongoing context of institutionalized racism. In Oregon, policymakers have established ambitious goals to address racial disparities in educational attainment. In this study, focus groups and interviews were conducted with 111 Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) adult learners in Oregon to better understand their perspectives and experiences in regard to educational and career pathways. Participants included currently enrolled students, adults who had enrolled and left, and adults who had never enrolled in post-secondary education. Thematic analysis focused on support that facilitates educational access and persistence for these learners. Consistent with the existing literature, our findings revealed that support fell into three broad categories: economic, social/cultural, and institutional support. Recommendations focus on utilizing targeted universalism as a strategy for supporting non-traditional students of color to access and complete college through the expansion of economic support for students, shoring up relevant academic and career resources, and building more meaningful partnerships between higher education and communities of color. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.