Higher Education Policy and Pipeline p. 2

Higher Education Policy and Pipeline

Overview

• Course: EDUC 005: Introduction to Education Studies

• Date: 3/5/2025

Agenda

• Announcements

  • Final Paper details discussed.

  • Extra Credit opportunities mentioned.

• Lecture Topics

  • Institutional Stratification

  • Affirmative Action

Institutional Stratification

• Definition:

  • Access to various postsecondary institutions varies based on socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. (Posselt, Jaquette & Bastedo, 2012)

• Characteristics of the U.S. System:

  • Highly stratified by mission, selectivity, and returns on earned degrees.

  • Efficiency goal emphasized during Week 1.

  • Community colleges discussed in the context of the cooling out function (Clark, 1960).

  • Prestige associated with different types of institutions.

Race and Socioeconomic Status (SES)

• Racial Inequality in Selective College Enrollment:

  • While access to postsecondary education has improved since 1972 across ethnicities, enrollment odds for Black and Latino students have decreased in relation to White and Asian American students.

  • Selective universities increasingly stratified by socioeconomic status, impacting enrollment across racial groups.

Mechanisms of Stratification in Admissions

• Admission Barriers:

  • Rising academic standards, notably in SAT scores.

  • Structured activities play a role in shaping admission processes.

Affirmative Action Overview

• Objectives:

  • Provide background on Affirmative Action (AA).

  • Introduce debates over race-conscious admissions in higher education.

  • Situate AA debates within a socio-historical context.

What is Affirmative Action?

• Categories included in the policy:

  • Race, sex, veteran status, disability.

Rationales of Affirmative Action

• Compensation for Systemic Disadvantages:

  • Acknowledge and address historical discrimination affecting people of color (education debt).

  • Universities must create environments that enhance educational benefits from diverse student bodies.

Lyndon B. Johnson's Speech (1965)

• Key Quote:

  • "You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him... and still justly believe that you have been completely fair."

  • Importance of equal opportunity and ability to engage with opportunities.

Affirmative Action - Legislative Background

• Key Executive Orders and Acts:

  • Executive Order 11246 (1965): Addresses discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin.

  • 1967 Amendment: Inclusion of sex.

  • Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (1972): Inclusion of disability.

• Definition of AA Measures:

  • Measures to correct past or prevent future discrimination beyond mere termination of discriminatory practices.

Race-Conscious Admissions

• Current Political Climate:

  • Hostility towards using race in admissions.

  • Eight states with bans on race consideration in admissions: CA, WA, FL, MI, NE, AZ, NH, OK.

• Policy Battle Sites:

  • Courts, legislatures, citizen initiatives.

AA in Higher Education - Legal History

• Key Supreme Court Cases:

  • University of California Davis v. Bakke (1978)

  • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

  • Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

  • Fisher v. UT Austin (2013, 2016)

  • Other pivotal cases include Hopwood v. Texas (1996) and Shuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014).

Diversity Rationale in AA

• Educational Benefits:

  • Supports interests of elite universities.

  • Informs a wealth of social science research on educational advantages of a diverse student body.

Legal Scrutiny and Admissions Practices

• Strict Scrutiny in Race Consideration:

  • Race can be considered in admissions if narrowly tailored and passes strict scrutiny.

• Variances in Legal Standards:

  • Differing rulings in Grutter and Gratz cases regarding practices used in admissions.

Ongoing Litigation

• Harvard Lawsuit (2019):

  • Defense of race-conscious admissions, countering claims of discrimination against Asian Americans.

  • Upcoming lawsuits involving UWisc and UNC-Chapel Hill focus on race-neutral alternatives.

Racial Triangulation

• Concept of Asian Americans as a Wedge Group:

  • Historical and contemporary issues highlight the model minority myth.

  • Addressing how different minority groups can be positioned against each other in policy discussions.

Intersectionality in Context

• Social Identity and Oppression:

  • Examines how overlapping identities lead to distinct experiences and challenges.

• Political Intersectionality:

  • Highlights the different political agendas that silence marginalized groups.

Arguments Against Affirmative Action

• Common Critiques:

  • Claims of unmeritorious preferential treatment and reverse racism.

  • Concerns about stigma and mismatching in student admissions.

References

• Bell, D. A. (2003). "Diversity’s distractions." Columbia Law Review.

• Crenshaw, K. (1991). "Mapping the margins: Intersectionality..." Stanford Law Review.

• Garces, L. M., & Jayakumar, U. M. (2014). "Dynamic diversity..." Educational Researcher.

• Guinier, L. (2003). "Admissions rituals as political acts..." Harvard Law Review.

• Vue, R., et al. (2012). "Creating college going cultures..."