Opportunities For Upward Mobility Research Articles

“Stepping-Stone” versus “Dead-End” Jobs: Occupational Structure, Work Experience, and Mobility Out of Low-Wage Jobs

Does working in a low-wage job lead to increased opportunities for upward mobility, or is it a dead-end that traps workers? In this article, we examine whether low-wage jobs are “stepping-stones” that enable workers to move to higher-paid jobs that are linked by institutional mobility ladders and skill transferability. To identify occupational linkages, we create two measures of occupational similarity using data on occupational mobility from matched samples of the Current Population Survey (CPS) and data on multiple dimensions of job skills from the O*NET. We test whether work experience in low-wage occupations increases mobility between linked occupations that results in upward wage mobility. Our analysis uses longitudinal data on low-wage workers from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) and the 1996 to 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). We test the stepping-stone perspective using multinomial conditional logit (MCL) models, which allow us to analyze the joint effects of work experience and occupational linkages on achieving upward wage mobility. We find evidence for stepping-stone mobility in certain areas of the low-wage occupational structure. In these occupations, low-wage workers can acquire skills through work experience that facilitate upward mobility through occupational changes to skill and institutionally linked occupations.

Women’s educational leadership experiences: career advancement in the Lubombo region of Eswatini

Women's progress in leadership roles within the field of education has made limited headway despite the efforts of government institutions and progressive policies aimed at addressing diversity and equity practices. This study seeks to investigate the experiences of women in leadership within the Department of Education in Lubombo Region of Eswatini. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study employs an interpretive paradigm and a phenomenological design to delve into the lived experiences of female leaders and their interpretation of these experiences. Twelve female principals from 12 high schools were purposefully selected to participate in this study. Semi-structured interviews, conducted with audio recordings, were used to guide the data generation process. The collected data were systematically transcribed, coded, and analysed thematically. Feminist theory serves as the foundation of this study, guiding the retrospective storytelling process aimed at understanding the experiences of women in leadership. Despite the implementation of regulations and other initiatives, gender equality in Eswatini has not progressed significantly. The findings of this study reveal that deeply ingrained traditional beliefs, rooted in the customs and values of local communities, continue to strongly influence promotion decisions within the educational system. The resistance observed reflects a deeply entrenched belief that female principals have limited opportunities for upward mobility in leadership due to the societal stigma or "injustice prejudice" that permeates government institutions. This study recommends that government entities and other stakeholders embark on new leadership training programs that prioritise progressive ethos, values, and culture within the education industry.

The Impact of Economic Development on Inadequate Education Resources in Rural China

This research examines the intricate relationship between economic development and education resources in rural China. While China's rapid economic development has catalyzed significant improvements in the nation's overall educational landscape, this progress has not been evenly distributed across urban and rural areas, leading to widening educational disparities. The study explores the multifaceted nature of these disparities, characterized by disproportionate resource allocation, inferior school infrastructure in rural areas, and a widening digital divide. Despite rural areas housing a considerable portion of China's student population, these regions grapple with numerous challenges, including inadequate resource allocation, low teacher quality, poor school infrastructure, and limited access to digital technologies. The consequences are profound, hampering rural students' academic performance and limiting their opportunities for upward mobility. This paper underscores the critical need to address these disparities as part of China's broader efforts towards sustainable development and social equity. In doing so, it offers valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and development practitioners, illustrating on potential intervention areas to foster educational equity and promote inclusive growth in rural China.

Intragenerational wage mobility and social disadvantage: A comparative study of West Germany and the United States

This article studies wage mobility during the early career in West Germany and the United States. We examine the extent of intragenerational wage fluctuations, whether they structure into upward mobility trends or remain volatile variations, and whether mobility aligns with classical stratification dimensions (gender, social origin, and education). We highlight three main findings. First, intragenerational wage fluctuations are stronger in the United States than in West Germany. Second, wage fluctuations translate into steeper trends of upward mobility, lower trend heterogeneity, and lower year-to-year volatility in West Germany than in the United States. Last, there is persistent intragenerational wage inequality by gender, social origin, and education but no striking differences between the patterns in the two countries. These results point toward the idea that higher wage fluctuations in the United States do not reflect opportunities for upward mobility but, rather, uncertainty around the prospects of wage progression.

Digitalization in China: who’s left behind?

ABSTRACT In an age of digitalization, who still refuses to use digital technology? Drawing on nationally-representative Chinese General Social Survey data, this article finds that about half of Chinese households do not actively use the Internet or e-payment systems, despite their ubiquity. This article estimates the effects of socioeconomic resources on these technologies’ (non-)use across urban, resident but previously urban, resident but previously rural, and rural hukou household registrations in China. Educational attainment is associated with higher odds of use among rural hukou, but the size of this effect is nearly double compared to urban hukou. Additionally, being female increases the odds of use among urban and resident but previously urban hukou, and lowers the odds of use in rural hukou, but which are attenuated by the mediating effects of education. The results give credence to education as a direct and indirect mechanism for digital skills development, especially for rural households. Individuals proximal to rural living conditions have fewer opportunities to learn about digital technology, resulting in greater dependency on education as a rare source of skills training. Simultaneously, education indirectly creates opportunities for women to learn digital skills by improving chances for higher-status job participation that require information management skills, especially in rural regions where traditional cultural norms constrain opportunities for upward mobility. Ultimately, digital technology non-use is traced not to lack of interest, but to lack of skills development opportunities among the socioeconomically disadvantaged.

The Quest for Self-Expression: Anzia Yezierska’s Portrayal of America as a Fake Golden Country

The aim of this study is to show how the experience of Eastern European Jewish women in America challenged the discourse of the American Dream that they had previously fabricated in their homelands at the turn of the twentieth century. As portrayed by the Polish-born American writer Anzia Yezierska, whose family migrated to New York at the time, these women initially aim their efforts towards achieving happiness through their belief that America provides equal opportunities for upward mobility. However, they eventually question their prospects of improvement and progress by creating their own Jewish American experience. In two of her short stories, “How I Found America” and “The Miracle,” Yezierska reproduces the hopelessness of her Jewish characters after they have faced the burdens of social exclusion and the classist policies of philanthropic programs of integration. Rather than completely assimilating American standards, the protagonists seek to build their own American experience while maintaining their Jewish cultural background, which paradoxically finds expression through institutional courses designed for newcomers.

Track and field as a tool for social inclusion in Brazil

This study aims to analyze track and field as a tool for social inclusion. It has a qualitative methodological approach. The data collection instruments were interviews/narratives/biographies conducted with 20 Brazilian Olympic track and field medalists. Based on the athletes' reports, track and field is evidently a great tool for social inclusion because most athletes came from vulnerable social conditions, low income families, which are socially excluded in many aspects. Therefore, they found in track and field an opportunity for upward mobility, which can be maintained to help their families after starting in the sport. Other forms of social inclusion by the sport were also noticed, such as higher education scholarships, knowing new places, peoples, and cultures, as well as support for their families.

North-African Jewish People in Paris: Multiple Identities—Ethnic-Religious, National and Transnational

The purpose of this study is to compare native-born and immigrant Jewish people from North African roots who reside in greater Paris regarding their multiple identities: ethnic-religious, as Jewish people; national, as French citizens; and transnational, as migrants and ‘citizens of the world’. This study employed the correlative quantitative method using survey questionnaires (N = 145) combined with qualitative semi-structured interviews. The main results indicate that both groups have strong Jewish and religious identities. However, while immigrants had fewer opportunities for upward mobility and were more committed to national integration, the younger second-generation have higher socio-economic status and more choices regarding their identities in contemporary France. In conclusion, even among people of the same North African origin, there are inter-generational differences in several dimensions of identity and identification which stem from being native-born or from their experience as immigrants. Different social and political circumstances offer different integration opportunities and thus, over the years, dynamically construct identities among North African Jewish people as minorities. Nonetheless, the Jewish community in Paris is not passive; it has its own strength, cohesiveness, vitality and resilience which are expressed not only in economic but also in social and religious prosperity of Jewish organizations shared by both the native-born and immigrants, who can be considered a ‘privileged’ minority.

The Outsider as insider

The architects Louis Kahn (1901-1974) and Chloethiel Woodard Smith (1910-1992) were near contemporaries whose networks overlapped in multiple ways. Kahn’s best buildings offer transcendent experiences of community; Smith’s remain cherished, if far more ordinary, places to live and work. Although the level of fame the profession bestowed upon him eluded her, in the 1960s and early 1970s her singularity as a female architect working on a national scale led her to be frequently profiled in the popular press. Kahn began as an outsider because of his working-class Jewish background; Smith remained one because she was a woman, although she was highly ambivalent about, and -- when well enough established -- outrightly dismissive of being labeled a woman or – worse yet – lady architect. Each also benefited from their status as relatively privileged white Americans, while building for African Americans and in the Global South. Tracing the arc of their careers captures the opportunities for upward mobility that the postwar boom created in the United States, as well as ones that the Cold War bestowed upon its best-connected architects, even as it illuminates the obstacles that continued to hinder the progression of women in the profession.

Migration, Dignity, Fragility, and Pandemics: Overview of the Special Issue

This special issue presents the findings of an international collaborative research project conducted between 2019 and 2021. This study is a follow-up of a previous study conducted between 2016 and 2019. In both studies, we examined the livelihoods of future climate migrants, who may relocate from Pacific atoll countries to developed countries. The Maldives was also included in this study, as it developed a unique strategy to cope with anticipated sea-level rise. They have developed a new city on reclaimed land and elevated it, intending to move the majority of its population there. In our first research project, we learned of the challenges faced by Pacific Islanders when transitioning to their new lives in a foreign country. This included inter alia unemployment or lack of opportunities for upward mobility, limited access to healthcare and legal services, and discrimination. We thus developed a formal policy and legal framework for the concept of “Migration with Dignity,” built upon the phrase first coined by then-Kiribati President Anote Tong. Our framework represents the opportunity for migrants to live a life equal to or better than the one they left behind. We then applied our concept of the Migration with Dignity framework to the challenges faced by climate migrants in the real world. The global outbreak of COVID-19 occurred during the implementation of our new research project. This made field research almost impossible in both atoll and developed countries and led us to modify our survey methods to include tele-interviews and remote surveys through the Internet. The pandemic also revealed the exacerbated vulnerabilities of the people who migrated to developed countries, such as discrimination, poor or no translation of medical documents, and challenging healthcare processes. We decided to address these issues within the framework of our research. We leave it to the readers of this special issue to decide how far we were able to maintain the quality of our research despite the difficulties we faced due to the sudden pandemic. As we felt at the end of our last collaboration, we now know what we need to do in our next endeavor.

Globalization, crisis and right-wing populists in the Global South: the cases of India and Turkey

ABSTRACT This paper provides a critique of perspectives that see the recent global rise of right-wing populism as a direct reaction to the disastrous effects of neoliberalism. By turning attention to the uneven development of capitalism and international competition, in this paper, I present a distinction between ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ types of right-wing populism that take place in different zones of the world economy. Through a comparative analysis of India and Turkey, this paper discusses the particularities of the rise of ‘offensive’ populists in emerging powers of the Global South in a period of economic growth. The comparative-historical framework employed in the paper allows us to understand how the world-hegemonic crisis empowered populists by providing opportunities for upward mobility for emerging powers.

Goal-striving stress and repeated measures of adiposity in the Jackson heart study.

Psychosocial stressors are determinants of increases in adiposity. Both psychosocial stressors and adiposity are higher among African Americans (AAs). Therefore, clarifying the stress-obesity link in AAs is important. The stress associated with goal striving is particularly relevant to AAs because opportunity for upward mobility is not always equal. Goal-striving stress (GSS) has not been assessed with adiposity, a potential result of GSS. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether GSS would be associated with repeated measures of adiposity [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR)] in AAs. Linear mixed models were used to assess the relationship between GSS with repeated measures of adiposity across three exam periods among 2902 AAs, and sex was assessed as a moderator. Models were adjusted for demographics, health behaviours, morbidities, and daily discrimination. GSS was positively associated with repeated measures of adiposity in women but not men: WC [estimate (standard error) p-value] [0.003 (0.001) p<0.01] and WHR [0.003 (0.0007) p<0.01]. This suggests that high stress due to goal striving may contribute to greater increases in adiposity in AA women over time. Community-based interventions should continue to consider focused support group models as viable options for goal-striving related stress reduction.

Perceptual Bases of Inequality in Organizations

Despite growing workforce diversity, organizational attention, and social pressure (e.g, #MeToo), inequalities along axes of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and ability remain a persistent challenge for most modern workplaces. Recent research has suggested that one key way these inequalities are perpetuated is through misperception, in which individuals fail to see, choose to ignore, misconstrue, or build narratives around them. However, though this work documents the importance of individuals' subjective understandings of inequality, how those understandings are formed--and thus how they might be altered--remains largely unclear. In the proposed symposium, we address this open question: We present a collection of novel empirical papers examining how the way people perceive aspects of organizational life (specifically, opportunity for upward mobility, meritocratic processes, relationships with other groups, and conflict) directly shapes their tolerance for and perpetuation of various types of inequality. Drawing from both experimental and field data and focusing on a range of different types of inequality (e.g., socioeconomic, racial) at work, these studies highlight that individuals’ perceptions about inequality are (1) potentially malleable, (2) critical vehicles through which today’s nuanced, relationally-enforced inequality is sustained, and (3) must be taken as seriously as the outcomes they foster. The Perceived Potential for Promotion: Upward Workplace Mobility and Acceptance of Pay Disparities Presenter: Dylan Wiwad; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Jon Michael Jachimowicz; Harvard Business School Presenter: Shai Davidai; Columbia Business School Bounded Meritocracy Presenter: Daniela Goya-Tocchetto; Fuqua School of Business, Duke U. Presenter: Aaron Kay; Duke U. Presenter: Keith Payne; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The Connection between Preferences for Hierarchy and Empathic/Counter-Empathic Emotions Presenter: Sa-kiera Hudson; Yale U. Presenter: Mina Cikara; Harvard U. Presenter: Jim Sidanius; Harvard U. Colored Lenses: Perceptions of Conflict & the Perpetuation of Workplace Racial Disparities Presenter: Phoebe Strom; Cornell U. Presenter: Ishan Sharma; Cornell U. Presenter: Ariel Avgar; ILR at Cornell Presenter: Einav Hart; George Mason U.

INFLUENCE OF WORK FROM HOME ON QUALITY OF WORK LIFE OF EMPLOYEESWORKING IN BPO INDUSTRY, PUNE

Globally, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector have grown rapidly over the last two decades, driven by the transfer of processes from companies in developed countries to ones in emerging economies. Work from home (WFH) has been fruitful during Covid-19 lockdown as per Governments mandate. As a result, about 90% of employees worked from home with 65% of them from homes in metros and rest 35% from homes in small towns.The main purpose was to study the benefit of work from home help employees enjoy better quality of work life (QWL) and the influence that productivity and promotions have on employees quality of work life working under work from home model through randomly assigning some employees of BPO companies in Pune. From the study it reported that employees working from home experienced of having a high positive attitude, less stress at work and improved wellbeing were the results of good quality of wok life. They were more likely to be happy with work and were also less likely to quit their job than those in the comparison group, but were less likely to be promoted than similar-performing peers working in the office. Further it also suggested that organisationscanconductvirtual employee training with best quality of work life initiatives in place will be an added advantage to both employees and employers receiving the full merits of improved workplace productivity and flexibility,strengthen team bonds, increase opportunities for upward mobility and retain employees than those who went into the office on a regular basis.

Protecting the American Dream: a Pediatric Imperative.

* Abbreviations: AAP — : American Academy of Pediatrics VVN — : Vital Village Network The American dream is a fundamental ethos of the nation passed from generation to generation. In 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.” Most Americans across all incomes still believe their children and grandchildren will achieve the American dream.1 Yet, in reality, it is out of most children’s reach. The American dream is intrinsically tied to the capacity for upward mobility, whereby children can grow up to surpass their parent’s income level. The groundbreaking work of Harvard Professor of Public Economics Dr Raj Chetty reveals that there is less upward mobility in the United States today than at any other time, likely because of lower overall economic growth and greater inequality in its distribution. Specifically, Chetty et al2 found that, since 1940, the fraction of children who earn more than their parents has fallen from >90% to ∼50%. However, the decline in the American dream is not equally distributed across the United States. Chetty et al3 has revealed great variation in upward mobility, with significant differences even among neighborhoods within the same city. Higher–upward-mobility areas are associated with less residential segregation and income inequality and greater … Address correspondence to Arvin Garg, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655. E-mail: Arvin.Garg{at}umassmemorial.org

Exploratory spatial analysis of autism rates in New York school districts: role of sociodemographic and language differences

BackgroundLiterature on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests lower ASD prevalence and higher age of diagnosis among children of color, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and from families with lower educational levels. These disparities have been attributed to factors such as limited access to diagnostic and treatment services, less opportunity for upward mobility to locales with ample resources, and linguistic barriers. However, few studies describe prevalence and geographic differences of ASD diagnoses by English Language Learner (ELL) status.ObjectivesThe primary objectives of this study are to (1) spatially explore the prevalence of ASD among New York State school districts and (2) examine differences of ASD prevalence rates between ELLs and native English-speaking peers.MethodsUsing the 2016–2017 district-level data on public and non-public school age students (3–21 years old) receiving special education services in New York, we analyzed sociodemographic trends among school districts with varying percentages (low, medium, and high ranges) of students with ASD and ELLs. To do this, we conducted exploratory spatial analyses using GIS software, analysis of school district level demographic data, and multivariate linear regression.ResultsIn contrast to prior research on ASD prevalence among minority groups, we found disproportionately higher rates of ASD among school districts with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic students. Geographic analysis revealed statistically significant clustering of school districts with high ASD rates in New York City and Albany. Higher proportions of ELLs tended to be concentrated in densely populated, urban, and geographically smaller school districts and had higher proportions of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students.ConclusionsSchools with higher rates of ASD and ELL students tend to be concentrated in urban regions throughout New York and have higher representation of Black and Hispanic/Latino students, as well as higher rates of learning disabilities in general. Further research is warranted to explore possible reasons for this phenomenon.

Millennial disentitlement: Greta Gerwig’s post-recession hipster stardom

ABSTRACT Through often derogatory mediated coding, the figure of the hipster has been positioned as an exemplar of Millennial privilege and a leading advocate for neoliberalism. However, such representation often elides how the Millennial generational cohort in which the hipster is embedded has been impacted by the 2008 financial crisis. For many young people this period has been marked by precarity, exorbitant student loans, unpaid internships and minimal opportunities for upward mobility. This paper argues that actor/director Greta Gerwig’s generationally-identified stardom in the post-recession period becomes a constructive site of interrogation for such anxieties. Gerwig’s representations of hipsterism are concurrent to the taste culture’s repositioning in the post-recession economy, where facets of hipster ‘cool’ and ‘taste’ are mined by urban economies to position cities as ‘global centres.’ I argue that her performance style also elicits tensions in the expected amiability associated with contemporary neoliberal subjectivity. By examining Gerwig’s star persona as well as her central roles in Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015) it becomes apparent that Gerwig’s ‘quirky’ affect renders the normative codes of contemporary work culture as farcical.

Implications of United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 Becoming Pass/Fail on the Integrated Plastic Surgery Match.

There has been much conversation surrounding the United States Medical Licensing Examination’s recent decision to transition Step 1 score reporting from a three-digit numeric score to a pass/fail outcome.1 Integrated plastic surgery is one of the most competitive matches for medical students.2 To be successful in the plastic surgery match, applicants must have strong board scores, extensive research experience, and numerous volunteer opportunities.2,3 Historically, Step 1 scores have provided an estimate for competitiveness for students.4 This change in scoring will effectively remove this means for self-selection. With a pass/fail system, students will have one less component with which to differentiate themselves from their peers. This may generate disadvantages to students attending U.S. medical schools outside of the top 40 in National Institutes of Health funding who previously had the opportunity to demonstrate their academic potential with an achievement-based standardized examination. With no numeric score for Step 1, naturally programs will have to seek other ways to differentiate students. At this point, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge will remain a numeric score, and consequently programs may use this to replace the importance of Step 1. However, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge is usually taken after the completion of the third year of medical school. Given the time delay for grading national board examinations, many students may not receive their scores until just before applications are due, which could leave students without enough time to estimate their competitiveness. Currently, many students delay taking Step 2 Clinical Knowledge until after applications are submitted to complete several away rotations as is expected in this specialty. Subsequently, the timing of these rotations could also be affected. The United States Medical Licensing Examination upholds that, across specialties, Step 1 scores positively correlate with specialty board pass rates.1 This is important for programs to consider, as board pass rates can have an impact on accreditation and program reputation. With the absence of Step 1 scores, programs may choose to put more weight into research experiences and productivity. Many students currently elect to take a year or more of dedicated research time within medical school.5 If programs were to place a higher emphasis on research, students completing their medical education in 4 years with no time off would be at an inherent disadvantage, not given the opportunity to equalize their applications with a strong performance on Step 1. A new form of applicant self-selection may occur based on research experience, similar to what has occurred in Canada after the implementation of a pass/fail scoring system.4 Similarly, without the standardized comparison of applicants provided by a uniform examination, equal comparisons of students between medical schools will be more difficult to achieve. This may lead to significant disadvantage for students coming from medical schools deemed to be less prestigious and limit these students’ opportunity for upward mobility. Although the termination of numeric Step 1 scores is a recent decision, it is important for programs to be proactive when considering factors for assessing future applicants and the effects that this change may have on the applicant pool at large. DISCLOSURE Neither of the authors has a financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. No funding was received for this work.

Sick leave absence and the relationship between intra-generational social mobility and mortality: health selection in Sweden

BackgroundPoor health could influence how individuals are sorted into occupational classes. Health selection has therefore been considered a potential modifier to the mortality class gradient through differences in social mobility. Direct health selection in particular may operate in the short-term as poor health may lead to reduced work hours or achievement, downward social mobility, unemployment or restricted upward mobility, and death. In this study, the relationship between social mobility and mortality (all-cause, cancer-related, cardiovascular disease-related (CVD), and suicide) is explored when the relationship is adjusted for poor health.MethodsUsing Swedish register data (1996–2012) and discrete time event-history analysis, odds ratios and average marginal effects (AME) of social mobility and unemployment on mortality are observed before and after accounting for sickness absence in the previous year.ResultsAfter adjusting for sickness absence, all-cause mortality remained lower for men after upward mobility in comparison to not being mobile (OR 0.82, AME -0.0003, CI − 0.0003 to − 0.0002). Similarly, upward mobility continued to be associated with lower cancer-related mortality for men (OR 0.85, AME -0.00008, CI − 0.00002 to − 0.0002), CVD-related mortality for men (OR 0.76, AME -0.0001, CI − 0.00006 to − 0.0002) and suicide for women (OR 0.67, AME -0.00002, CI − 0.000002 to − 0.00003). The relationship between unemployment and mortality also persisted across most causes of death for both men and women after controlling for previous sickness absence. In contrast, adjusting for sickness absence renders the relationship between downward mobility and cancer-related mortality not statistically different from the non-mobile.ConclusionsHealth selection plays a role in how downward mobility is linked to cancer related deaths. It additionally accounts for a portion of why upward mobility is associated with lower mortality. That health selection plays a role in how social mobility and mortality are related may be unexpected in a context with strong job protection. Job protection does not, however, equalize opportunities for upward mobility, which may be limited for those who have been ill. Because intra-generational upward mobility and mortality remained related after adjusting for sickness absence, other important mechanisms such as indirect selection or social causation should be explored.

Exploring the Implications of Culturally Relevant Teaching: Toward a Pedagogy of Liberation

Schools in America may provide opportunities for upward mobility while also perpetuating social inequality. The inequities found in the US public school system probably result in such a highly stratified society. Conditions found in many schools and classrooms are often a microcosm of the same conditions and factors present in the broader American society. Scholars and education reform activists often use the term school-to-prison pipeline to describe what they view as a widespread pattern in the United States of pushing students, especially those who are already at a disadvantage, out of school, and into the criminal justice system. This research explored whether mentorship in the lives of these very students can affect the trajectory that these students take in life by moving toward a pedagogy of liberation that challenges the inequities and contradictions in the institution of education. Building from a model similar to CDF Freedom Schools, but targeting academic enrichment, Farrah and her colleague Hope developed the Sankofa Project at Yin Elementary School (YES). Embracing both the social-emotional and pedagogical aspects of CDF Freedom Schools, the Sankofa Project moved from a mission that sought to instill a love for reading to actually teaching children to read. This aspect was pivotally important to Farrah and Hope as they sought to dismantle the “cradle to prison pipeline,” the concept of funneling masses of people into marginalized lives, imprisonment, and often premature death. Farrah believed that all her predecessors had done “was spot on, but academic enrichment was a key to steering children away from the pipeline.” With the rebirth of a caste-like system in America, black and brown bodies are disproportionately locked behind bars, relegated permanent second-class status if declared a felon and an increasingly common trend toward annihilation at the hands of those of who are designated to serve and protect them.