The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014
Since the 1990s, affirmative action opponents have targeted colleges’ and universities’ race-conscious admissions policies and secured bans on the practice in eight states. Although scholarly and media attention has focused on these dynamics at a handful of elite institutions, little is known about...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Society for Sociological Science
2017-08-01
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| Series: | Sociological Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v4-18-449 |
| _version_ | 1818589554646450176 |
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| author | Daniel Hirschman Ellen Berrey |
| author_facet | Daniel Hirschman Ellen Berrey |
| author_sort | Daniel Hirschman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the 1990s, affirmative action opponents have targeted colleges’ and universities’ race-conscious admissions policies and secured bans on the practice in eight states. Although scholarly and media attention has focused on these dynamics at a handful of elite institutions, little is known about race-conscious admissions across the broader field of higher education. We provide a descriptive, quantitative account of how different types of colleges and universities responded to this political context. Through analysis of almost 1,000 selective colleges and universities, we find a dramatic shift in stated organizational policy starting in the mid-1990s. In 1994, 60 percent of selective institutions publicly declared that they considered race in undergraduate admissions; by 2014, just 35 percent did. This decline varied depending on status (competitiveness) and sector (public or private). Race-conscious admissions remain the stated policy of almost all of the most elite public and private institutions. The retreat from race-conscious admissions occurs largely among schools lower in the status hierarchy: very competitive public institutions and competitive public and private institutions. These patterns are not explained by implementation of state-level bans. We suggest that the anti–affirmative action movement had a diffuse impact whose effects varied across different strata of American higher education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:42:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-859b1381f0ba4c85abaa58ece78c44c8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2330-6696 2330-6696 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:42:30Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Society for Sociological Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociological Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-859b1381f0ba4c85abaa58ece78c44c82022-12-21T22:36:13ZengSociety for Sociological ScienceSociological Science2330-66962330-66962017-08-0141844946810.15195/v4.a18The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014Daniel Hirschman0Ellen Berrey1Brown UniversityUniversity of TorontoSince the 1990s, affirmative action opponents have targeted colleges’ and universities’ race-conscious admissions policies and secured bans on the practice in eight states. Although scholarly and media attention has focused on these dynamics at a handful of elite institutions, little is known about race-conscious admissions across the broader field of higher education. We provide a descriptive, quantitative account of how different types of colleges and universities responded to this political context. Through analysis of almost 1,000 selective colleges and universities, we find a dramatic shift in stated organizational policy starting in the mid-1990s. In 1994, 60 percent of selective institutions publicly declared that they considered race in undergraduate admissions; by 2014, just 35 percent did. This decline varied depending on status (competitiveness) and sector (public or private). Race-conscious admissions remain the stated policy of almost all of the most elite public and private institutions. The retreat from race-conscious admissions occurs largely among schools lower in the status hierarchy: very competitive public institutions and competitive public and private institutions. These patterns are not explained by implementation of state-level bans. We suggest that the anti–affirmative action movement had a diffuse impact whose effects varied across different strata of American higher education.https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v4-18-449AdmissionsOrganizationsRace |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Hirschman Ellen Berrey The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 Sociological Science Admissions Organizations Race |
| title | The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 |
| title_full | The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 |
| title_fullStr | The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 |
| title_short | The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014 |
| title_sort | partial deinstitutionalization of affirmative action in u s higher education 1988 to 2014 |
| topic | Admissions Organizations Race |
| url | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v4-18-449 |
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