Pipeline is a colonial metaphor: Tara A. Nelson, ‘Academic Pipelines as Contemporary Icons of Settler Colonialism: A Critique of the Pipeline Metaphor Ingrained within Higher Education’s Lexicon’, About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience, 28, 6, 2024 | settler colonial studies blog

Pipeline is a colonial metaphor: Tara A. Nelson, ‘Academic Pipelines as Contemporary Icons of Settler Colonialism: A Critique of the Pipeline Metaphor Ingrained within Higher Education’s Lexicon’, About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience, 28, 6, 2024

07Feb24

Excerpt: Within enrollment management, the word “pipeline” is a metaphor used to describe the structures and procedures of a student’s educational journey between two institutions (Pitcher & Shahjahan, 2017). The process of moving through the enrollment pipeline is often facilitated by
articulation agreements—documents outlining course requirements as students transfer from a two-year to a four-year college or university (Anderson, Sun, & Alfonso, 2006). In the past, articulation agreements
served as an enrollment management strategy among many four-year institutions but have evolved due to overall declining student enrollment in the past ten years (Hussar et al., 2020). Interest in creating articulation agreements with local tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) has grown among American four-year institutions as a “pipeline” to increase student enrollment. However, the “pipeline” metaphor—both in nomenclature and practice—is problematic with respect to enrollment management of Indigenous students.

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