The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions
The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions
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DOI：
10.2307/2668215
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发表时间：
1998-07
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
D. Woodruff;W. Bowen;D. Bok
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Woodruff;W. Bowen;D. Bok
《河流的形状：在大学和学院录取中考虑种族的长期后果》，作者威廉·g·鲍恩和德里克·博克。普林斯顿，新泽西州：普林斯顿大学出版社，1998。472页，布价24.95美元。一所教育机构的目标和价值观往往通过它在挑选学生时所做的选择最生动地体现出来。有了这一论断，作者们煞费苦心地记录和撰写了这项研究，对种族和大学录取过程以及黑人学生被名牌大学录取的相关学术和职业成果进行了一次迷人而及时的考察。书名《河的形状》被作者用来隐喻社会进步与平权行动之间的复杂和有争议的本质，特别是在增加接受高等教育的机会的背景下。这项研究的数据来自College and Beyond数据库，该数据库汇编了1951年、1976年和1989年秋季学期28所学院和大学的8万多名本科生的记录。两位作者分别是普林斯顿大学和哈佛大学的前校长，他们利用这些定量数据以及他们自己在高等教育中的丰富经验，为在大学招生中继续使用平权法案建立了一个有说服力的论点。第一章“历史背景”为审视当前关于种族和大学录取的辩论奠定了基调。作者提供的数据显示，1951年，有记录的19所大学及以上学校中，黑人学生平均占新生的0.8%。从1960年到1995年，大学毕业生占黑人总人口的比例从5.4%上升到15.4%，这主要是由于民权运动和对过去歧视行为的关注增加。此外，在此期间，黑人和白人在大学入学考试成绩上的差距下降了大约25%。这些教育成就有助于黑人中产阶级的逐渐出现，1990年有20%的黑人从事管理或专业工作，而1950年这一比例为5%。然而，尽管取得了这样的进步，并给社会带来了相关的好处，但作者指出，通过考虑种族因素的招生政策来增加少数族裔专业人员数量的努力从未被完全接受。他们提供了一个最近的例子来说明这种紧张关系。1996年，加州大学董事会宣布，他们系统中的九所大学将不再被允许在录取学生时考虑种族因素。此后，其他州也纷纷提起诉讼，质疑在录取政策中考虑种族因素。第二章“招生过程和种族中立”探讨了在种族中立的招生制度下，黑人在名牌学校的招生将如何进行。本章首先表明，绝大多数本科院校接受所有合格的候选人，只有20%到30%的学校能够采用更严格的选拔标准，无论是种族还是其他标准。在College and Beyond数据库中，有五所学院和大学代表了这些更具选择性的机构。鲍文和博克认为，如果这些学校采用严格的种族中立标准，黑人入学人数将减少50%至70%。此外，在这种制度下，黑人的入学率将从7.1%下降到2.1%。他们进一步得出结论，合格申请者数量的下降直接源于大学前学业成绩的差异，尤其是在考试成绩和高中成绩上。正如他们所坚持的那样，在种族中立的前提下，被拒绝的学生的学历只会比那些被录取的学生弱一点点。…
The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions by William G. Bowen and Derek Bok. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. 472 pp. $24.95, cloth. Reviewed by Darren Woodruff, American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C. The aims and values of an educational institution are often revealed most vividly by the choices it makes in selecting its students. With this assertion, the authors of this painstakingly documented and well-written study launch into a fascinating and timely examination of race and the college admissions process and the related academic and career outcomes for Black students admitted into selective colleges and universities. The title of the book, The Shape of the River, is used by the authors as a metaphor to signify the complex and controversial nature of linking social progress to affirmative action, particularly in the context of increasing access to higher education. The data for this study comes from the College and Beyond database, a compilation of records fox more than 80,000 undergraduate students who matriculated at 28 colleges and universities in the fall semesters of 1951, 1976, and 1989. The authors, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard universities, respectively, utilize this quantitative data as well as their own considerable experiences in higher education to build a persuasive argument for continuing the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Chapter 1, "Historical Context," sets the tone for examining the current debate on race and college admissions. The authors site data showing that in 1951, Black students averaged 0.8% of the entering class at the 19 College and Beyond schools for which records were available. From 1960 to 1995, the percentage of college graduates in the overall population of Blacks rose from 5.4% to 15.4%, largely as a result of the civil rights movement and increased attention to past discriminatory practices. Additionally, during this time the Black-White gap in college entrance examination scores declined by approximately 25%. These educational achievements helped lead to the gradual emergence of a Black middle class, with 20% of Blacks in 1990 working at a management or professional level, up from 5% in 1950. Despite such progress and the related benefits to society, however, the authors note that efforts to increase the number of minority professionals through race-sensitive admissions policies have never been fully accepted. They provide a recent example of this tension in the 1996 announcement by the Regents of the University of California that the nine universities in their system would no longer be permitted to take race into account in admitting students. Other states have since followed with their own lawsuits challenging the consideration of race in admission policies. Chapter 2, "The Admissions Process and Race-Neutrality," explores how Black enrollment at selective schools would have proceeded under a race-neutral admissions system. The chapter begins by demonstrating that the vast majority of undergraduate institutions accepted all qualified candidates, leaving only 20% to 30% of schools in a position to apply more restrictive selection criteria, be it race or any other standard. These more selective institutions are represented by five of the colleges and universities in the College and Beyond database. Bowen and Bok contend that the adoption of a strict race-neutral standard by these schools would have resulted in a 50% to 70% reduction in Black enrollment. Moreover, the enrollment level of Blacks under such a system would have fallen from 7.1% to 2.1% of the entering class. They further conclude that the drop-off in qualified applicants would have stemmed directly from disparities in precollegiate academic achievement, as seen particularly in test scores and high school grades. As they maintain, the academic credentials of the students rejected under the race-neutral premise would have been only slightly weaker than those of the students who would have been admitted. …