The Classroom and the Yard: The Contrasting Context of Prison Higher Education and Its Role in Racial Bias Mitigation

Abstract

Prison has long been recognized as a racialized institution in America, where race determines myriad aspects of life—from where individuals sleep to those with whom they live, eat, and socialize during incarceration. However, there is little evidence on how to effectively remediate prisons’ deep racial divisions—a question that is imperative given that interracial animus in prisons can be both a result and a determinant of racial conflict and violence. In this study, we argue that higher education in prison has significant potential to improve racial attitudes and foster racial integration by providing a “contrasting context” for interracial interaction in the classroom within an otherwise racially segregated institution. Using administrative data on college-level course completion, an original longitudinal survey of prison college students, and in-depth qualitative interviews with prison college alumni, we show evidence of shifts in racial attitudes and self-reported behavior as students move through their college career. Our results demonstrate the potential for prison higher education to shift race-based norms and offer a framework through which to analyze prison education that prioritizes outcomes of interest beyond recidivism. © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Higher education prison racial attitudes

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States

Funding & Acknowledgements

University of California Berkeley, UCB

The research reported in this article was made possible by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (Grant no. 201800027). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship program at the University of California, Berkeley. Our thanks especially to Victoria Robinson for supporting this work. The project also benefited enormously from the assistance of Spencer Bowen, Randy Clopton, Kyle Dill, Jacob Grumbach, Emily Estus, Rebekah Jones, Mark Lipkin, Audrey Sayer, Anna Schiff, Emily Swide, Marie Warchol, as well as the phenomenal students who carried out our interviews: Shania Ali, Meghan Brown, Clarence Ford, Sara Hidayatullah, James Huynh, Christian Lambaren Sanchez, Jessica Lim, David Little, Timothy Ma, Adriana Medina, Michael Mendieta, Kameron Mims- Jones, Eli Moreh, Laura Perry, Dean Petitta, Desiree Sulzmann, and Jonathan Verdugo. Sincere thanks to Jody Lewen, Amy Jamgochian, and the students, alumni, and program team of the Mount Tamalpais College Program at San Quentin State Prison for their participation and support in carrying out this work.

Spencer Foundation

Grant: 201800027

The research reported in this article was made possible by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (Grant no. 201800027). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship program at the University of California, Berkeley. Our thanks especially to Victoria Robinson for supporting this work. The project also benefited enormously from the assistance of Spencer Bowen, Randy Clopton, Kyle Dill, Jacob Grumbach, Emily Estus, Rebekah Jones, Mark Lipkin, Audrey Sayer, Anna Schiff, Emily Swide, Marie Warchol, as well as the phenomenal students who carried out our interviews: Shania Ali, Meghan Brown, Clarence Ford, Sara Hidayatullah, James Huynh, Christian Lambaren Sanchez, Jessica Lim, David Little, Timothy Ma, Adriana Medina, Michael Mendieta, Kameron Mims- Jones, Eli Moreh, Laura Perry, Dean Petitta, Desiree Sulzmann, and Jonathan Verdugo. Sincere thanks to Jody Lewen, Amy Jamgochian, and the students, alumni, and program team of the Mount Tamalpais College Program at San Quentin State Prison for their participation and support in carrying out this work.

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The Classroom and the Yard: The Contrasting Context of Prison Higher Education and Its Role in Racial Bias Mitigation

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