Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore ethical challenges and dilemmas that exist within admissions systems at colleges and universities in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Although the issues considered herein are examined primarily from the perspective of admissions officers, this paper also considers the viewpoint of prospective…

The American higher education community found a curious mix of good and bad news in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last summer, in "Parents Involved v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education", about the use of race-based policies by public elementary and secondary schools. This article discusses this…

In this article we examine the current status of affirmative action in postsecondary admissions through a concurrent review of recent court rulings, state legislation, and higher education enrollment data. Analyzing each of these factors in the context of the others is important because the court decisions and state-level legislation interact to…

Those involved in higher education understand that the admissions process has less to do with rewarding each student's past performance--although high performance is clearly essential--than it does with building a community of diverse learners who will thrive together and teach one another. Reports have noted that many leading public universities…

During this election year, many people who study race and education had hoped that the nomination of a black presidential candidate and the increased focus on race would have led to a related discussion of equal access to higher education and a turn toward a stronger commitment to the creation of a truly diverse society. However, unfortunately,…

This article discusses the curious mix of good and bad news the American higher education community found in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last summer, in "Parents Involved v. Seattle School District" and "Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education," about the use of race-based policies by public elementary and secondary…

Despite the precedent established in the "University of California Board of Regents v. Bakke," that race may be used as a factor in admissions policies at state institutions of higher education, state and federal court decisions were divided over whether the use of race in admissions decisions was a violation of the Equal Protection…

From 1995 to 2005 education doctoral degrees conferred to African American females increased by 92%, however the increase in availability among this population for higher education administrator positions has not kept pace with the growth of African American female higher education doctoral graduates (Ryu, 2008). Such data have spurred inquiry…

Over the past several decades, affirmative action has become a widely-debated issue in higher education. According to research, race-sensitive admissions policies engender significant advantages for students of all racial backgrounds, yet critics claim that these benefits are matched by significant costs--particularly in terms of minority student…

This study explores leadership styles and gender in higher education (HE) by examining representation of female professors in Australian and Turkish universities and identifying barriers to achieving seniority. The paper explores factors, including leadership styles, which explain the higher representation of female professors in Turkey, despite…

Deciding it necessary to review the earlier ruling of the Second Circuit court, on January 9, 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case "Ricci v. DeStefano." The case originates from New Haven, Connecticut where a group of firefighters argue that city officials violated their Title VII rights by dismissing the results of…

The array of admissions models and the underlying, and sometimes conflicting goals people have for college admissions, create the dynamics and the tensions that define the contemporary context for enrollment management. The senior enrollment officer must ask, for example, how does an institution try to assure transparency, equality of access,…

After the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the University of Michigan admission cases, which struck down racial preferences and quotas in Michigan's undergraduate and law school admission, several groups have challenged race-conscious admission, school placement policies and academic support programs. Even the federal government has challenged…

In two recent cases involving the University of Michigan (Gratz v. Bollinger and Gruttinger v. Bollinger), the Supreme Court examined whether race should be allowed to play an explicit role in the admission decisions of schools. The arguments made in support of affirmative action admission policies in these cases and others raise two fundamental…

Opponents of higher education affirmative action programs are gearing up to launch their largest attack in recent years. The planned assault comes in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that severely limited the use of race in K-12 integration plans. It was Ward Connerly, the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a…