Words matter. Institutions of higher education have many labels, and those words have different connotations. For instance, it is very common to see people refer to “two-year colleges” and “four-year colleges” (and the original PROSPECT proposal to NSF used that language, along with acronyms 2YC, 4YC). However, after PROSPECT was funded, we had the chance to hear from some folks that calling institutions “two-year” or “four-year” can be discouraging for students who take longer to complete degrees. Certainly institutions offering associate’s degrees count two, three, and four year graduation rates, and institutions offering bachelor’s degrees count four, five, six and sometimes even eight year graduation rates. Thus, in PROSPECT, we have been trying to shift to talking about associate-granting and bachelor-granting institutions. You might ask why we don’t just say community college and university, but this is because we have more than just those two types of institutions in our partnership: we have technical colleges, tribal colleges, and other colleges as well. However, within the Nebraska S-STEM project (STEM CONNECT), we do talk about university and community colleges, because all of our partners do fit in one of those two categories. Word connotations are powerful. When a part-time student with significant family responsibilities is finishing an associate’s degree after four years, we want that student to feel proud and celebrate, not feel shame they didn’t get a “two-year degree” in two years.
Another word I have come to learn has problematic connotations is “stakeholder.” The origins of “stakeholder” are from the colonial times in the United States, when local governments would award settlers stolen land after those settlers held a stake on that land for a particular length of time. So, although we typically hear the word stakeholder as meaning groups of people with a vested interest in a common topic, the origins of that word refer to folks who squatted on land they didn’t own and were then awarded ownership of that land from governments that had stolen the land from indigenous people. I haven’t found a single, concise word that has the same connotation and is less problematic, so I try now to either list out the “interested parties” (e.g., students, faculty, administrators), just talk generally about “people involved/interested/engaged” or just say “people”.
What other words or terms have you stopped using, once you knew more? I could include a much longer list of words and terms I have stopped using for a variety of reasons, but don’t want to bog you down with a super long article. One of the ways I temper my regrets is to reflect on the words of Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” I really see our PROSPECT community embodying this, with folks learning from each other and seeking to each improve our local contexts.
Happy fall, everyone, and I hope you are finding time for yourselves and what makes you happy during this busy semester.
Wendy Smith