October 29, 2014
Díaz de Sabatés, Sabatés present at Midwest conference
Submitted by Gabriela Diaz de Sabates
On Saturday, Oct. 25, Gabriela Díaz de Sabatés, women's studies, and Marcelo Sabatés, office of international programs, presented "Reshaping the multicultural landscape at a Midwestern University" at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Midwest FOCO Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
The theme of the conference was "Latinas and Latinos in the Midwest: Past, present, and future."
The presenters centered their discussion around the understanding that college education of underrepresented groups is a matter of social justice. They argued that just social policy must ensure socioeconomic mobility for underrepresented groups — including ethnic groups but not limited to them — and that socioeconomic mobility is strongly correlated with educational achievement. High educational achievement for underrepresented groups may be ensured only if college enrollment and graduation rates for those groups are at acceptable levels. Acceptable enrollment and graduation rates for underrepresented groups are possible only if institutions have proactive and sensitive policies towards diverse populations. In sum, just social policy requires educational strategies that are proactive and sensitive towards underrepresented groups. Therefore, universities are essential instruments in generating a just society.