By 21CLEO Research Team
We are pleased to share that our 21CLEO research team’s latest peer-reviewed article, Examining the Perspectives of Adult Working Learners and Key Stakeholders Using Critical Race Theory, was published in the journal of Higher Education, Skills, and Workplace Learning. This article discusses how, in response to the racial reckoning launched by the murder of George Floyd in early summer of 2020, the team reexamined their data, drawing on Critical Race Theory as an analytic framework to examine the perspectives of front line service-working learners and key stakeholders in their education and training programs.
Data analysis revealed that working learners’ skills, experiential knowledge, learning mindset, language flexibility, and knowledge gained from previous learning experiences were not consistently acknowledged by employers. The article shares contrasting examples of working-learner experience, showing how proactive effort on the part of a supervisor can help learners overcome institutionalized inequities or how, absent that support, learning does not lead to advancement. The analysis illustrates how endemic racism exists within education and training initiatives and in workplace learning despite the best efforts of individuals involved in delivering learning opportunities. A post print of the article is freely available through the Portland State University archives.
Citation: Jacobs, G.E., Castek, J., Harris, K. and Vanek, J. (2022), “Examining the perspectives of adult working learners and key stakeholders using critical race theory”, Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-08-2021-0158
