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…

Despite its relatively short history, policies connected with Affirmative Action have endured a controversial social, political, and legal past. Higher education has witnessed much of this controversy firsthand. Because the venue of many Affirmative Action battles has been waged within educational settings, faculty in higher education are uniquely…

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)

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)

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.

Affirmative action in college admissions is based on the premise that a diverse student body contributes to interactions among students from different backgrounds, which are in turn positively related to desirable outcomes of college. This study evaluates the merits of this rationale for affirmative action by examining the direct and indirect…

This report is an effort to assess what has been accomplished in successfully diversifying and desegregating historically segregated and unequal higher educational institutions across Kentucky, and how this was done. The report discusses the changing legal setting for these initiatives, analyzes the educational achievements and challenges, and…

Diversity is said to bring about a host of educational benefits, yet on campus or off, things aren't working out the way diversity experts planned. In this article, the author reviews recent research challenging the "contact hypothesis," which asserts that putting individuals of disparate cultural backgrounds in the classroom and other…

This volume is the first to comprehensively examine Chinese's affirmative action policies in the critical area of minority education, the most important conduit to employment and economic success in the People's Republic of China after the economic reforms begun in the late 1970s. This book contains four parts. Part I, "Debating China's…

For more than 30 years, affirmative action efforts have been present on college and university campuses, as have been the controversies that surround them. To this day, it remains a hotly contested issue in higher education, and recent court decisions once again are affecting how students will be selected for admission to institutions of higher…

In this essay, Father Brian J. Shanley discusses Providence College's pilot program to eliminate standardized test scores from the required components of an admission application. Building on the college's ninety-year history of opening the doors of higher education to underrepresented populations, Providence College's test-optional policy is…

This review comments on the recent class action suits in Michigan related to affirmative action and college admission. It reviews related cases and the legal basis for the Supreme Court decisions that are expected to have widespread effects. Affirmative action plans exist at all levels of government and business, and a broad ruling invalidating…