The Diversity Bargain

The Partial Deinstitutionalization of Affirmative Action in U.S. Higher Education, 1988 to 2014

“…As case studies show (Berrey 2015;Warikoo 2016), institutional actors at these schools enforce a symbolic connection between diversity and elitism, coded as meritocracy. They also have greater resources for extensive outreach and attractive scholarships to entice highly competitive students of color.…”

(Re)production of the Contemporary Elite Through Higher Education: A Review of Critical Scholarship

“…Egalitarian and inclusive education systems are one of the best drivers of socioeconomic equality as well as of national economic growth (Piketty, 2014). But today, due to exorbitant tuition rates and particular admission standards, access to higher education, particularly at prestigious institutions, is highly correlated with parental wealth (Lucas, 2001;Warikoo, 2016). From 1970 to 2010, the percentage of university degrees earned by children whose families were in the bottom half of income earners grew from 10 to 20, while it rose from 40% to 80% for those in the top quartile (Piketty, 2014).…”

“…Since the 1960s, institutions of higher education have become observably more diverse in terms of race and gender; the numbers of Black and Latino students have increased significantly, and women now outpace men in terms of degree attainment (Guinier, 2015;Khan, 2012b;Rivera, 2016;Warikoo, 2016;Weis, Cipollone, & Jenkins, 2014). However, this increase in diversity of race and gender has not reflected a diversity of class at our most selective colleges and universities.…”

“…However, this increase in diversity of race and gender has not reflected a diversity of class at our most selective colleges and universities. Instead, as college degrees have become more attainable in general, those from prestigious schools have become much more difficult to obtain, which is evidenced by vast decreases in admission rates over the past two decades (Lucas, 2001;Warikoo, 2016;Weis et al, 2014). For example, in 2015 Stanford, whose decrease in admission rate is typical of the most prestigious universities, admitted just over 5% of applicants, as opposed to 12.5% in 2001 and 31% in 1974 (Anders, 2015;Jackson & Nudelman, 2017).…”

Market “choices” or structured pathways? How specialized arts education contributes to the reproduction of inequality

“…This move reveals the double gesture in how discourses of "the arts" are mobilized, on the one hand, to promote equal opportunity for all, while on the other, to limit opportunity for most (Caillier, 2006;Gaztambide-Fernández, Nicholls, & Arráiz Matute, 2016;Krahe & Acuff, 2013). To be fair, it is not difficult to argue that admissions processes have an exclusionary effect that, almost by definition, yields homogenous student populations (see Stevens, 2009;Warikoo, 2016). More complicated, but likely much more revealing, is to examine whether such exclusions are simply the result of unequal access to prior artistic training and exposure, or whether there are more hidden forms of inequality that ensure unequal access to programs.…”