Affirmative action is a loaded term with a weighty history. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated race-conscious admissions decisions for higher education, what will diversity look like going forward?

On this episode of In Conversation, equity experts, professors, and policy leaders explore the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling, what can be done to make college campuses equitable and diverse, and whether eliminating affirmative action in higher education could foreshadow similar changes in the workplace.

Photo: Nigel Barker/The Hechinger Report

In some parts of the world, academics who also work in the fields that they teach are being rebranded "pracademics" for "practical academics."

U.S. universities tend not to boast about the people in their classrooms who also work outside of them. But as students increasingly call for educations that lead more directly to jobs, the pracademic trend in other countries suggests this could change, with the word itself a symbol of newfound respect.

This week, the Biden administration will host the National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education as it tries to find ways to support colleges that want to promote diversity after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gutted affirmative action.

The convening will bring together college presidents, researchers, and equity advocates to discuss the fallout of the ruling and how to move forward.