Princeton Weekly Bulletin September 28, 1998
In the news
The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions was written by two former Ivy League presidents, William Bowen of Princeton University, an economist, and Derek Bok of Harvard University, a political scientist.
Examining grades, test scores, choice of major, graduation rates, careers and attitudes of 45,000 students at 28 of the most selective schools, the authors say that although they are both advocates of race-conscious admissions policies, they wanted to test the assumptions underlying such policies.
Having completed the work, they say it should put to rest major objections to such policies, especially that both whites and blacks are ultimately cheated by them.
With its rich database and carefully calibrated tone, the study will most likely lead the charge in a liberal counteroffensive to recast the debate over affirmative action, which in the last two years has been rolled back in California and Texas and is under serious challenge in Michigan and Washington.
The Bowen-Bok study limits itself to the practice of race-conscious admissions in elite higher education; that is, to considering the race of applicants to be a critical factor in whether they should be admitted, as important as, say, their region of origin or their extracurricular activities.
The study begins by documenting the problem clearly: blacks who enter elite institutions do so with lower test scores and grades than those of whites. And as they work their way through liberal arts colleges like Yale and Princeton and state schools like the Universities of Michigan and North Carolina, black students receive lower grades and graduate at a lower rate.
But after graduation, the survey found, these students achieve notable successes. They earn advanced degrees at rates identical to those of their white classmates. They are even slightly more likely than whites from the same institutions to obtain professional degrees in law, business and medicine. And they become more active than their white classmates in civic and community activities.
The authors call black graduates of elite institutions "the backbone of the emergent black middle class" and say that their influence extends well beyond the workplace.
"Until now, this issue has involved much emotion but little evidence," said Bowen, who is now president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which sponsored the research. "When the Supreme Court decided Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, it relied heavily on social science studies. We hope our data influence the current Supreme Court when it rules on affirmative action."
"Study of Affirmative Action at Top Schools Cites Far-Reaching Benefits," by Ethan Bronner, New York Times, September 9.