The policies, priorities, and productivity of postsecondary admission offices are under a great deal of scrutiny. The current realities range from the pressures of tuition-driven institutions to deliver the majority of the university budget each fall, to more selective institutions wrestling with standards of which applicants to accept amid…

In a symposium at the 2012 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education annual conference, Claremont Graduate University Professor Daryl G. Smith, a pioneer in the study of diversity in postsecondary educational contexts, critiqued the disproportionate framing of diversity-related research around past, present, and future U.S.…

Efforts to expand diversity in the health professions has received a boost from a prominent member of Congress. U.S. Senator Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, recently introduced a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act as part of a comprehensive initiative to improve the health of minority and other underserved populations. This bill, which is being…

In this paper we review the research evidence on the effects of affirmative action in employment, university admissions, and government procurement. We consider effects on both "equity" (or distribution) as well as "efficiency." Overall, we find that affirmative action does redistribute jobs, university admissions, and…