Hicks, AE; Sinkinson, C; (2016) Reflections on the Retention Narrative Extending Critical Pedagogy Beyond the Classroom. In: Pagowsky, N and McElroy, K, (eds.) Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook. (pp. 171-183). Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL): Chicago, IL, US.

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Abstract

In October 2015, the U.S. Department of Education released the College Scorecard, a website that explicitly links the quality of an institution with its ability to retain students.1 Designed to guide students’ choice of institution based on graduation rate, as well as other factors, including tuition cost and post-graduation salary, the website demonstrates both growing popular interest in student completion as well as the very real pressures on institutions to raise levels of retention. Yet, while a focus on retention can certainly help to facilitate success and address structural inequities within higher education, there is a danger that if these initiatives are not implemented thoughtfully, they might be counterproductive and harmful to the students that they are designed to assist. As Pegeen Powell, an educator whose work has focused on critically engaging with the retention literature, warns us, the seductiveness of this discourse often obscures a number of questionable assumptions about students as well as troublesome implications about the purpose of higher education.2 This essay, by two teaching librarians who are engaged in retention and student success initiatives, forms an initial attempt to explore these ideas in the context of the library and to engage librarians in a mindful reflection about the nature, role, and shape of retention efforts in their own library and campus.

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