Galileo's Children: Italian Americans' Difficult Entry into the Intellectual Elite

Abstract

We examine the possibility of ethnic exclusion by U.S. intellectual elites for the case of Italian Americans, a large, identifiable group that has assimilated into the mainstream during the last half century but is still the subject of demeaning stereotypes with wide currency. Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellowship of nearly 4,000 members drawn from throughout the academic, scientific, and artistic worlds, is used as a window into processes of ethnic stratification among intellectuals and academics. The analysis establishes that Italian Americans are represented in the Academy at a level well below their percentage among college and university faculty. Their frequency of election has increased substantially in recent years, but we conclude that the evidence is consistent with continuing ethnic disadvantage.

Becoming American, Becoming Minority, Getting Ahead: The Role of Racial and Ethnic Status in the Upward Mobility of the Children of Immigrants

“…Indeed, as Karabel (2005) reminds us, the grandchildren of Eastern European Jewish immigrants continued to face significant limits on access to the most elite institutions of higher education into the 1960s. Furthermore, Richard Alba has argued that Catholics, and particularly Italian Americans, are still significantly underrepresented at such institutions, and thus in the higher ranks of the learned professions (Alba and Abdel-Hady 2005). Whereas higher education once lagged behind other arenas of American life in the acceptance of newcomers and their children, with today's emphasis on diversity and representativeness, such institutions often lead the way (Bowen and Bok 1998).…”

The Benefits of Comparison

“…Could this all be explained by ethnic niches? The recent work of Alba and Abdel-Hady (2005) suggests not, as Italian Americans in the professoriate appear to encounter barriers at the elite level. It is clear that researchers need to do a better job of understanding causes of ethnic disadvantage and identifying when, to whom, and how discrimination affects mobility patterns.…”

On the Sociological Significance of the American Jewish Experience: Boundary Blurring, Assimilation, and Pluralism

“…"More meritocratic" obviously leaves room for considerable slippage from full-fledged openness; besides the well-known scarcity of women and minorities on the faculties of these institutions, there is also, in my view, a more hidden exclusion of Catholic ethnics (seeAlba, 2005b;Alba and Abdel-Hady, 2005).…”