The study investigates a tension between affirmative action scholars who hypothesize that affirmative action bans would increase underrepresented minority students' STEM college completions and scholars who have empirically estimated declines. It also questions results that that find no existence of a STEM penalty (compared to non-STEM) caused by…

I study student characteristics and academic performance at the University of California, where consideration of an applicant's ethnicity has been banned since 1996 and SAT scores were used in admitting students to the university until fall 2021. I show the following: (1) SAT scores were more important than high school grades in predicting…

This critical literature review investigates how "diversity" and "equity" are employed in top-cited higher education scholarship published between 2000 and 2015. No analysis to date has offered such a comparative exploration relative to well-recognized racial disparities in higher education. Findings reveal a divergence with…

Politicians are challenged to increase economic opportunities for citizens with disabilities. Today, the employment of persons with disabilities within the Australian Government is being supported through a RecruitAbility Scheme. With full implementation of the Scheme underway, it is a timely research exercise to critically explore early progress.…

This narrative and integrative literature review synthesizes the literature on when, where, and how the faculty hiring process used in most American higher education settings operates with implicit and cognitive bias. The literature review analyzes the "four phases" of the faculty hiring process, drawing on theories from behavioral…

This article examines California's Student Equity Policy crafted by policymakers to "avoid an underclass of ethnic minorities" in higher education. We combine tenets from critical race theory, interest convergence, and color-evasiveness to qualitatively interrogate 17 policy documents including chaptered bills, legislative mandates, and…

The United Nations sustainable development goals in education aim at inclusive and quality education for all. To achieve this, Ghana has a Draft Inclusive Education Policy which seeks to address the diverse learning needs of all citizens. Furthermore, the 1992 constitution provides the legal basis for the provision of higher education to be…

The communities that constitute the racialized category of Asian Americans consist of approximately 20 million people in the United States, or about 5% of the total population. About 20% or 4 million are of primary or secondary school age, and over 1.1 million are in higher education. Both in popular and academic discourse, "Asian…

This paper is a discussion on the possibilities of educational democracy in Brazilian Graduate Education, with a focus on the current Graduate Education Field regulations and the recent affirmative actions and public policies of access. We analyzed laws, decrees, government plans and selections edicts, through categories derived from historical…

This study examined and enriched our understanding of the career choice process for doctoral students of color in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. In addition, it explored the challenges facing all doctoral students in STEM in understanding and making meaning of diversity as it relates to individual perspectives and…

During its 2013-2014 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Proposal 2, a ballot measure that amended Michigan's state constitution to ban the consideration of race in admissions at public postsecondary institutions. This article outlines the legal questions that have emerged in the case--Schuette v. Coalition to…

This paper reviews the existing literature to discuss how critical race theory has been applied as a theoretical framework to higher educational research in the United States and what its contributions are. To provide necessary context, I will discuss race and racism in the United States, the background of US higher education in relation to race,…

Through an analysis of relevant social science evidence, this article provides a deeper understanding of critical mass, a concept that has become central in litigation efforts related to affirmative action admissions policies that seek to further the educational benefits of diversity. We demonstrate that the concept of critical mass requires an…

This article is an overview of a doctoral dissertation which presents statements from graduates of the University for All Program (PROUNI) from a non-profit Brazilian university, who were admitted to university through this program. The methodology used was qualitative with a focus on textual analysis. The objective is to identify the outcomes…

Using 18 years of data from more than 1,300 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, we investigate the extent to which institutional characteristics and contextual factors influence the propensity of colleges to indicate that they engage in affirmative action in their admissions decisions. Consideration of race/ethnicity in…