The diversity bargain : and other dilemmas of race, admissions, and meritocracy at elite universities / Natasha K. Warikoo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Warikoo, Natasha Kumar, 1973- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

College students--United States--Attitudes.

College students.

Cultural pluralism--Public opinion.

Cultural pluralism.

Merit (Ethics).

Public opinion.

Minorities--Public opinion.

Minorities.

Race.

Elite (Social sciences).

United States.

Elite (Social sciences)--United States--Attitudes.

College students--England--Attitudes.

Elite (Social sciences)--England--Attitudes.

Race--Public opinion.

Merit (Ethics)--Public opinion.

Education, Higher--Social aspects.

Education, Higher.

College students--Attitudes.

Elite (Social sciences)--Attitudes.

England.

Physical Description:

x, 293 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Summary:

We've heard plenty from politicians and experts on affirmative action and higher education, about how universities should intervene if at all to ensure a diverse but deserving student population. But what about those for whom these issues matter the most? In this book, Natasha K. Warikoo deeply explores how students themselves think about merit and race at a uniquely pivotal moment: after they have just won the most competitive game of their lives and gained admittance to one of the world's top universities. What Warikoo uncovers talking with both white students and students of color at Harvard, Brown, and Oxford is absolutely illuminating; and some of it is positively shocking. As she shows, many elite white students understand the value of diversity abstractly, but they ignore the real problems that racial inequality causes and that diversity programs are meant to solve. They stand in fear of being labeled a racist, but they are quick to call foul should a diversity program appear at all to hamper their own chances for advancement. The most troubling result of this ambivalence is what she calls the "diversity bargain," in which white students reluctantly agree with affirmative action as long as it benefits them by providing a diverse learning environment racial diversity, in this way, is a commodity, a selling point on a brochure.

Contents:

Beliefs about meritocracy and race

American students. Making sense of race

The university influence

Merit and the diversity bargain

The moral imperatives of diversity

British students. Race frames and merit at Oxford

Race, racism, and "playing the race card" at Oxford

Conclusion

Appendix A. Respondent characteristics and race frames

Appendix B. A note on method

Appendix C. Interview questions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [219]-275) and index.

ISBN:

9780226400143

022640014X

OCLC:

940795711