Affirmative Action In Higher Education A Solution

Affirmative Action In Higher Education: A Solution To Structural Racism Essay, Research Paper

It seems as if the roaring debate over affirmative action has again emerged. Much of the debate centers about education. Critics appear to believe that a policy to aggressively counter discrimination against minority groups is no longer necessary and, further, serves only to create unfair privileges. My paper will investigate the question of affirmative action in schooling for minorities in order to address the issue of affirmative action in college admissions. What is the evidence that supports arguments for or arguments against affirmative action policies in college admissions.

Affirmative action is defined in Webster.s dictionary as “a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment of education of members of certain groups.” There are many different types of advantage policies that no one seems to question. For example, there are many students who get privileges at universities because their parents or relatives are alumni. No one pickets or rallies against this practice. Minority groups are trying to keep affirmative action in order to compensate for the lack of demographic and economic balances within the population of educational systems. A major crisis facing American higher education today is the rapidly declining number of Blacks successfully graduating from institutions of higher education at all levels– 2-year and 4-year colleges, graduate schools, and professional schools. Many educators, political leaders, civil rights. groups, and other concerned organizations have expressed alarm in recent years about the drop in the percentage of Black high school graduates who go on to 4-yeart colleges and beyond. “Although more Blacks are obtaining high school diplomas, the number of Black high school graduates, ages 18 to 25 years old, who enrolled in college fell from 33.5% in 1976 t 26.1% in 1985″ (Lang, Barriers to Blacks, p.510; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1987). To some extent this decline in Black college enrollment reflects an overall national decline in college enrollment. Yet, the enrollment of the traditionally underrepresented minorities has been increasing. Even more devastating is the fact that the graduation rate of Blacks from 4-year colleges, graduate schools, and professional schools has dropped drastically as well.

What are the reasons for this situation. What can or needs to be done in order to change these trends. What are the potential consequences if these trends are not changed. Part of the problem is encouraging Black youths to make the transition from high school to college. The more crucial concern, however, “is getting Black youths through college to graduation and into and graduate from graduate and professional schools” (Wilson, The Black Community in the 1980.s, p.459). To begin addressing these pertinent questions, it is necessary to examine some factors that are affecting Blacks in higher education in recent years.

Recent research clearly shows that the higher attrition rates of Black students are largely attributable to their socio-economic background and to certain peculiar characteristics of higher education institutions. Yet, “it has also become clear that when socio-economic factors are controlled, the attrition rate of Blacks after enrolling in college is not strikingly different from that of Whites” (David, Achievement and Ascription in Admission to an Elite College, p.371). This points directly to the significance of institutional factors on the attrition of Black Students after college enrollment. The research literature (Astin, 1975, 1982; Christoffel, 1986) further provides specific explanations for the disproportionately large attribution for Black students. Those factors include the academic preparation of Black students for higher education, the availability of family resources and access to institutional financial-aid resources, and the institutional barriers to access, enrollment, and retention.

Why does equal opportunity in higher educational institutions continue to be a problem for minorities. Why do the retention and graduation rates for Blacks continue to decline. And, what are viable options for improving the access and retention of minorities in institutions of higher education. These are some of the major questions that must be addressed in a systematic research agenda.

“The Civil Rights. Movement of the 1950.s and 1960.s was in part a struggle to gain for minorities equal access to the nation.s institutions of higher learning” (Lang, Barriers to Blacks, p.514). Yet, over a quarter of a century later, minorities are still underrepresented, as students, faculty, and staff, at predominately White colleges and universities across the country. The inequitable status of minorities in higher educational institutions continues has generated considerable scholarly debate over the last few years.

It was during the administration of President John F. Kennedy that significant programs were initiated to provide federal financial aid for minority students to pursue a college education. “During the early 1960.s, the federal government instituted such programs as the National Defense Educational Act (NDEA), the National Defense Student Loan program (NDSL), and work-study programs that made it easier for minority students (especially Blacks) to have the