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…

Using policy discourse analysis, the author analyzed 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities over a five-year period to identify images of diversity and the problems and solutions represented in diversity action plans. Discourses of marketplace, excellence, managerialism, and democracy emerged and served to construct…

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…

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…

This paper discusses legal implications for employment as a result of Bakke v. Regents of University of California, a reverse discrimination case that ruled in favor of the plaintiff. It refers to Weber v. Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation, a case that may turn out to be more significant than Bakke because it involves jobs, money, and who…

Points out that the first step in the accommodation process must be an executive-level policy that affirmative action for the legally defined handicapped population will be a top priority and that many accommodations are more a matter of ingenuity than of dollars. (Author/IRT)

This article explains how proposed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations attempt to circumvent the case of Weber vs Kaiser Aluminum Corp. by providing employers with backpay immunity in reverse discrimination suits. (Author)

Since 1980, the Supreme Court has declined to grant review of any cases challenging voluntary affirmative action. The debate about its constitutionality, and about quotas, goals, timetables and other specific practices, thus seems destined to be heard only in public and political forums. (Author/GC)

Presents a formula for determining catch-up time in cases of alleged discrimination in education, work, and other situations. Defines "catch-up time" as the number of years that would be required for a specific subgroup in the general population to assume a desired proportion of the total composition of the targeted group. (KH)

(1) Centralize organizational responsibility for affirmative action. (2) Conduct an organizational audit related to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. (3) Implement affirmative action as an administrative responsibility. (Author)

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…

Considers sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, focusing on (1) who is covered, (2) the line between nondiscrimination and affirmative action, and (3) elements of an affirmative action program for handicapped persons. (GC)

Blacks still suffer from the effects of past discrimination combined with continuing discrimination based on negative stereotypes and irrational prejudices. That disadvantage must be overcome through vigorous affirmative action programs. (Author/IRT)