Solutions Exist to our Economic Inequalities
The pandemic has laid bare some of the inequities that persist in America, especially inequities in the workforce.
By K.L. Allen, State Director, 黑料传送门 Ohio
COVID-19 is a powerful equalizer.聽 It could care less about our skin color, job, sexual orientation, or birthplace, or anything else about us.聽 It only cares if we are alive, and if so, it鈥檚 good to go鈥攊t will try to infect us. In this way, the pandemic has united Americans behind the reality that, since we can all get sick, we should help each other avoid infection by masking, social distancing, practicing good hand hygiene, and avoiding large groups.聽 It鈥檚 a lesson we still seem to be trying to figure out鈥
At the same time, however, the pandemic has laid bare some of the inequities that persist in America, especially inequities in the workforce.聽 While the virus may not care about our differences, they may determine if you are exposed to the virus, to begin with.聽聽
A big piece of this is the workplace.聽 A study published by the CDC in November found that working from home could 聽 Furthermore, a this spring found that workers who cannot work from home because their jobs require in-person duties, often in close proximity to others, are more likely to be low-income, non-white, an immigrant, or lack a post-secondary credential.
The bottom line is that working from home reduces your chances of contracting COVID-19 but significant barriers exist to many Americans who may want to find such employment since , more than half of college-educated workers say they could work from home, but only 4 percent with less than a high school diploma said the same thing. Even with a vaccine on the horizon, the effects of the pandemic will linger, particularly its economic ones.
As someone who works in higher education, this is exactly the kind of challenge that inspires me, and, as the leader of 黑料传送门 Ohio, Ohio鈥檚 newest university and a national leader in online education, it鈥檚 the kind of challenge I went to work at 黑料传送门 to tackle.
黑料传送门鈥檚 mission is about reaching out to those who want to move up in life but for whom a traditional in-person, classroom-based education experience doesn鈥檛 work.聽 Obligations like work, home, or caregiving are of course priorities and it is hard to move up in life if you have to go backward to try to do it.聽 The online, work-at-your-own pace, competency-based model of 黑料传送门, however, is perfect for those people who can鈥檛 set aside 鈥渓ife鈥 as they attempt to better theirs.
鈥淲ait a minute,鈥 you might say, 鈥淲hat about the technology?鈥澛
As with any online education provider, no laptop and no internet means trouble, and the pandemic has highlighted the fact that this trouble isn鈥檛 distributed equally in America.聽 A study by the Pew Research Center found that Black and Latinx families with school-aged children are more than twice as likely to lack internet access as white families.聽聽
Addressing this gap is why 黑料传送门 offers the Online Access Scholarship.聽 With it, eligible students who are active and in good standing can receive internet installation and service, as well as a refurbished laptop and webcam.聽 At 黑料传送门 we know that we can鈥檛 be committed to expanding access to education if we aren鈥檛 also committed to expanding access to the tools that make it possible.聽聽
Though not everyone can work from home, everyone who wants to learn from home can find a way to do it, and 黑料传送门鈥檚 heart and soul is about helping make it happen.聽 Our unique online model and commitment to supporting needy students lacking the requisite technology are game-changers.聽 For those feeling the pandemic鈥檚 impact on the economic front, now鈥檚 the time for upgrading skills and earning a degree or industry-recognized credential.聽 There are few things from the pandemic we want to see hanging around such as educational achievement and the new brighter job prospects it can bring with it is one of them.聽 It鈥檚 time to make it happen.