James July-August 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 63
s the landscape of American society
grows and breaks new ground in our
respective efforts to each achieve our own
semblance of the American dream, one
often overlooked concept in the equation
is social mobility. The idea of social mobility, in its simplest
form, refers to a change in social status. Changes can occur in upward, downward or even horizontal directions.
I have been thinking about social mobility quite a bit
in recent years in my role as president of Clayton State
University (CSU). As a resident of Georgia for over 20 years
and living in the metro Atlanta region since 2019, I have
had the opportunity to witness social mobility in action
across every sector of every community across the state of
Georgia— and not always in good ways.
For instance, Atlanta is ranked number one in America
in terms of income inequality. A person born in poverty in
Atlanta has only a 4 percent chance of rising out of poverty during their life. At this percentage, any hope of upward
social mobility that creates better lives for individuals,
their families, and their communities is negligible, verging
on nonexistent.
This is, indeed, a tremendous problem. However, I
strongly believe hope can be found by ensuring every citizen has within reach tools that will enable them to achieve
success. That hope— that tool— is higher education.
Within the realm of higher education, the sphere in
which I have served professionally for nearly 30 years, we
are deeply focused on advancing our students’ upward social mobility. And this means improved outcomes related
to socioeconomic status. Upward social mobility is about
more than just earning money. It includes opportunities
such as increased job prospects, the ability to earn a living wage, and access to better healthcare, affordable insurance, retirement benefits, and better housing options.
Upward social mobility not only impacts the individual,
but also their family. Once one person achieves upward
social mobility, it opens myriad doors for others in their
family to experience similar movements.
Of course, it is easy to point to earning a college
degree to promote upward social mobility. However, so
many of our students encounter barriers that make that
path more arduous than necessary. At CSU, we have found
that the average adjusted gross income of a family is less
than $29,000 per year. That is the second lowest in the
University System of Georgia.
While family income is not the only determinant of
future social mobility, it has a significant impact. Additionally, many of our students are parents themselves or have
families they must work to support. Barriers-- such as having to miss classes due to lack of childcare, lack of access
to mental health resources and food insecurity— are not to
be dismissed.
J U LY/AU G UST 2 0 2 4
63
