Implications of Access to Education for the Underprivileged: A Secondary Study of Intersectionality

Abstract

In this literature review, I examine and analyze the effects of intersectionality on the lived experience of minorities in post-secondary education, specifically focusing on the impact of race, class, and gender. I review the actual experiences of those who have had their post-secondary careers influenced by their intersectionality, and how they have overcome their struggles to ensure they complete their studies to the best of their abilities. This review allows for further work to be done to improve the conditions in which the underprivileged experience. This analysis acknowledges the excess amount of hardships that people with multiple social categories face by drawing on evaluations of Patricia Hill Collins’ Matrix of Domination (2000) and Kimberle Crenshaw’s Intersectionality Theory (1991). The investigation of how these theories are interdependent with people’s lived experience can aid in changing the fundamental and systematic processes of the current education system. The research shows that there is a strong relationship between race, class, and gender, and success rates in post-secondary education, thus establishing a firm foundation for the creation of an intersectional approach in universities and colleges.