In response to disparities in postsecondary access, governments have enacted policies to facilitate the admission of traditionally underrepresented students. Known as affirmative action in the United States, the legal justification of this approach has varied. This article describes the legal and political history of affirmative action, the social…

Over the last few years, even as the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the constitutionality of race-conscious policies in postsecondary admissions in "Fisher v. University of Texas" (2016), a new wave of attacks in the conservative agenda to dismantle affirmative action (as the policy is more commonly called) emerged. First, in 2014…

The purpose of this article is to highlight the power of popular discourse in shaping public policy debates concerning educational access and opportunity for historically marginalized and minoritized students, especially for Latinas/os. I argue that proponents of race-conscious policies would do well to challenge the elimination of affirmative…

Eliminating the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admissions might seem a form of covert affirmative action. Although it is possible to design a workable admissions policy that excludes standardized tests (as 15 percent of colleges have done), banishing admissions tests to further a social-policy goal indirectly is unsound policy. (Contains 25…

Democrats who wanted more state support for colleges and scholarships were surprise victors in the November 1998 gubernatorial elections in Alabama, Iowa, South Carolina, and California. However, in the same election the political movement against affirmative action was strengthened in a Washington State referendum. Results of state referenda…

California's Proposition 209, dismantling affirmative-action policy, has chilled race relations in the state, provided a road map for groups with similar agendas in other states, and challenged higher education to find alternative paths to justice for women and people of color. Recent experience has shown that more selective institutions have…

Books in the Opposing Viewpoints series challenge readers to question their own opinions and assumptions. By reading carefully balanced views, readers confront new ideas on the topic of interest. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited job discrimination based on age, race, religion, gender, or national origin, provided the groundwork for…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

Selfishness has spawned a new breed of racism, driven by fear, fed by scarcity, and manifested through economic imperatives. California's Proposition 187 and Herrnstein and Murray's book "The Bell Curve" are built on racist foundations. Our current obsession with race is driven by an economy and an elitist social system that is…

The conclusions and recommendations resulting from studies of faculty development in California's public colleges and universities, which were conducted in response to a directive from the state legislature, are presented. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) background (origins and conduct of the study); (2) the scope of faculty…

A federal appeals court has upheld an amendment to California's constitution that bars government agencies from granting preferences based on gender or race. The California Civil Rights Initiative, or Proposition 209, was found not to violate the Equal Protection Clause. If the ruling is not reversed, public colleges and universities will be…

This publication sets forward the California State Postsecondary Education Commission's historical and present perspective on educational equity in California higher education and was prompted by Governor Wilson's June 1, 1995 Executive Order to End Preferential Treatment and to Promote Individual Opportunity Based on Merit (Executive Order…

Two years after California's ban on racial and gender preferences became law, supporters and opponents of affirmative action are debating the impact on college faculty diversity. Some institutions have maintained slow but steady growth in minority faculty; diversity at others has declined. Some say that not all effects of the change, including…

The "problem of the 21st century" is rapidly expanding diversity alongside stubbornly persistent status and power inequities by race, ethnicity, gender, class, language, citizenship and region. Extensive technological, economic, political and social changes, along with immigration, combine to produce a global community of great diversity…

This manual provides an overview of sexual harassment and what can be done about it. Although it deals with laws in California, its general sections and sections of federal laws could be used by persons in any state. The guide contains 12 chapters. Chapter 1 includes a discussion of what sexual harassment is and how it affects society and the…