AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN SCHOOLS
Elite colleges and universities were mostly reserved for rich, predominantly white Americans for much of American history. Affirmative action — the narrowly restricted practice of evaluating race and ethnicity as part of a holistic examination of a student’s application — was only adopted in the twentieth century for these institutions to actively prioritize diversity and improve access. Affirmative action is one of the most effective techniques available to colleges and universities for promoting diversity and ensuring that those who would otherwise be excluded from the American postsecondary system get an opportunity to earn a good degree.
Even though the United States Supreme Court has frequently upheld the use of race in admissions, some groups continue to make it difficult for students of color to get admission. These forces have found a powerful supporter in President Trump, who has used the federal government’s power to threaten affirmative action. After failing to show that affirmative action harms white students, they have switched tactics and are now promoting the lie that assisting some students of color in gaining admission to school leads to prejudice against well-qualified Asian American students. This detrimental myth reinforces false narratives of Asian American community homogeneity, ignores considerable socioeconomic variations across ethnic groups, and overlooks the stark intraracial disparities that affirmative action serves to address. This strategy isn’t new; those who want to maintain inequitable structures have long worked to create divisiveness in communities of color.
Despite their efforts to stymie the country’s progress toward educational equity by pitting communities of color against one another, key civil rights organizations continue to advocate affirmative action, and research continues to show its importance. In the fight for racial fairness in higher education, race-conscious admissions policies are still vital. In this piece, we look at five reasons why affirmative action in college admissions is a good idea.
- ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES, STUDENTS OF COLOUR CONTINUE TO BE UNDERREPRESENTED
Over the last four decades, college enrollment and completion rates have increased dramatically. Students of color, particularly black and Latinx students, are currently underrepresented at top universities in greater numbers than they were 35 years ago. In reality, 45 of the 50 flagship state universities have a black student enrollment discrepancy, meaning that the percentage of black students is lower than the percentage of black high school graduates in that state. In Mississippi, for example, black students made up 50% of high school graduates in 2015–2016, but just 12.9 percent of the University of Mississippi undergraduates.
- DIVERSITY IS BENEFICIAL TO PUPILS OF ALL RACES
On college campuses, diversity enriches the educational experiences of students from all walks of life. According to the Century Foundation, racially integrated classrooms can minimize racial bias in pupils, increase satisfaction and intellectual self-confidence, and improve leadership skills. These advantages could lead to improved economic outcomes and, among other things, equip students to operate in a diversified global economy, boosting team productivity, effectiveness, and innovation.
- IN EDUCATION, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ENCOURAGES DIVERSITY IN WAYS THAT A SOLE CONCENTRATION ON INCOME CAN NOT
While income can and should be included in a comprehensive review of applications, it should complement rather than replace race and ethnicity considerations. Although income might be a good indicator of a household’s ability to handle routine expenses, it does not tell the entire picture of economic well-being and access to higher education.
Families with more money can move to better school districts, buy test preparation books and workshops, and pay for or help pay for college tuition. Even after controlling for income, however, centuries of systemic racism and intergenerational transfers have provided white households with significantly more wealth than homes of color. In reality, white middle-income households often have twice as much wealth as Latino homes and three times as much wealth as black households.
- AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ASSISTS INSTITUTIONS IN TAKING EFFORTS TOWARD IMPROVED ADMISSIONS EQUITY
Affirmative action, in general, is a strategy that has enabled historically marginalized populations to attend college. Exclusion, segregation, underfunding, fewer resources, and poorer familial wealth have long been systemic impediments in the American school system for students of color. As a result, students of color are more likely to do poorly on the success indicators used by universities to determine admission, making it more difficult for them to get admission to top-tier public and private colleges. Affirmative action and other race-conscious admissions strategies try to address these imbalances by urging universities to look more closely at some of the atypical elements that can help a student succeed — factors that are typically neglected in regular admissions criteria.
- AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AIDS IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIAL MOBILITY
Despite the challenges that low-income students and students of color encounter in obtaining higher education, research has shown that once admitted to top-tier schools, low-income students complete their degrees at higher rates and earn nearly as much as wealthier students after graduation. These data imply that top-tier universities benefit all students, regardless of their background. While some say that the intellectual rigor at selective universities overwhelms low-income students and students of color, research demonstrates the reverse.