Stigma is a major barrier to the life opportunities of people with disabilities, including those with psychiatric disabilities. Structural discrimination is stigma that results from social forces that develop over many years to diminish a group's resources and support needed to be successful. Affirmative action is a legal and political remedy to…

Understandably, current discussions about access that take place in higher education circles often focus on the underrepresentation of students from low-income families. At the same time, recent events in Michigan have refocused attention on questions of race- and gender-based affirmative action. Thus, how can higher education ensure that students…

Many countries mandate affirmative action in university admissions for traditionally disadvantaged groups. Little is known about either the efficacy or costs of these programs. This paper examines affirmative action in engineering colleges in India for "lower-caste" groups. We find that it successfully targets the financially…

Public higher education has undergone a process similar to that in the national polity: a one-sided struggle by those with power to shape the institution to be more market driven, more focused on what will generate (non-state) revenues, more dominated by top administrators, and less concerned about the working class and people of color. This…

In recent years, corporate executives and local bar association officials have increasingly questioned why so few of the nation's elite corporate law firms can claim significant racial and ethnic diversity among their partner or upper management ranks. Some organizations have even pledged to reward law firms that ensure high-level assignments for…

This report is based on a presentation prepared for a conference on African American Educational Achievement held at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the fall of 2003. The author dissects the widely divergent opinions on the subject of affirmative action and identifies what should be the principles of a sound affirmative admissions…

Describes how, during oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court over the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policy, several justices indicated that they did not see any viable alternatives to the use of affirmative action in college admissions. (EV)

Discusses how, as lawyers on both sides make their final preparations for the approaching April 1 deadline to present oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court in the University of Michigan's two affirmative action cases, legal scholars say it is anyone's guess on who will eventually prevail in the landmark decision. (EV)

Discusses one scholar who believes that even though the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the University of Michigan admissions cases, Americans already are living in a post-affirmative action world. For this particular scholar, a ruling against Michigan might boost minority achievement. Others, however, are less optimistic. (EV)

Discusses how the Supreme Court will hear two cases involving racial preferences at the University of Michigan, with the fate of affirmative action in college admission in the balance. (EV)

Discusses diversity in the workforce and examines methods of managing diversity efforts, including the use of appropriate interventions. The relationship of managing diversity to Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity programs is considered; and an upcoming series of articles on diversity is described. (two references) (LRW)

Introduces a theme issue that includes a collection of articles on work being done to prevent movement backward in efforts to gain equal educational opportunity for minority group students, discussing affirmative action, racial discrimination and bias, and equity in higher education (with a focus on California's efforts to roll back affirmative…

Describes how the dean of undergraduate admission at the University of Michigan brings both passion and pragmatism to his position, valuable assets as the university fights two lawsuits in its struggle to retain its affirmative action-friendly admission policies. (EV)

Affirmative action, a controversial topic about which students have many misconceptions, lends itself especially well to a sociological analysis. This paper describes an approach to teaching that: (1) informs students of different affirmative action programs; (2) gives them the opportunity to apply and integrate a variety of concepts and research…

This chapter explores alternative solutions for selective institutions of higher education to reach beyond their traditional admission measures and identify diverse students who might otherwise not be selected by traditional admission criteria.