Promise and dilemma : perspectives on racial diversity and higher education / edited by Eugene Y. Lowe.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lowe, Eugene Y., 1949- editor.

Series:

The William G. Bowen Series ; 119

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational equalization--United States--Case studies.

Educational equalization.

Minorities--Education (Higher)--United States--Case studies.

Minorities.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (226 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1999]

Summary:

Issues of diversity and affirmative action have turned elite higher education in the United States into contested terrain. Rights revolutions in the country have raised hopes that have proved difficult to fulfill. Most particularly, expectations about access and opportunity--redressing the unfairness of the past--have collided with widely held beliefs: that educational institutions should treat each person fairly as an individual and should promote high academic standards. Promise and Dilemma gathers the reflections of a group of leading educators on whether and how objectives of diversity, equity, and excellence can be simultaneously pursued. Empirical in orientation, these essays focus on constructive proposals and on the role of social and political consensus. Furthermore, they contrast what we believe we know with what empirical data and institutional experience can teach us. Eugene Lowe's substantive introduction reviews the history of the practice of affirmative action in colleges and universities. The other essays are by L. Scott Miller of The College Board; Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town; Neil J. Smelser of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford; and Claude M. Steele of Stanford University. Also included are commentaries by Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law School; Richard J. Light, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Chang-Lin Tien, the University of California, Berkeley; and Philip Uri Treisman, the University of Texas.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CONTRIBUTORS

PART I

One PROMISE AND DILEMMA INCORPORATING RACIAL DIVERSITY IN SELECTIVE HIGHER EDUCATION

PART II

Two PROMOTING HIGH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG NON-ASIAN MINORITIES

Three A THREAT IN THE AIR HOW STEREOTYPES SHAPE INTELLECTUAL IDENTITY AND PERFORMANCE

Four A PRACTITIONER'S VIEW FROM TEXAS COMMENTS ON THE ESSAYS BY L. SCOTT MILLER AND CLAUDE M. STEELE

Five ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT DIVERSITY COMMENTS ON THE ESSAYS BY L. SCOTT MILLER AND CLAUDE M. STEELE

PART III

Six EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE - STRANGE BEDFELLOWS? A CASE STUDY OF SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Seven FACING THE DILEMMAS OF DIFFERENCE COMMENTS ON THE ESSAY BY MAMPHELA RAMPHELE

Eight PROBLEMATICS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION A VIEW FROM CALIFORNIA

Nine WHAT A UNIVERSITY CAN LEARN AND TEACH ABOUT CONFLICT AND DIFFERENCE COMMENTS ON THE ESSAY BY NEIL J. SMELSER

EPILOGUE

INDEX

Notes:

Notes bibliogr. Index.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691004891

0691004897

OCLC:

1273307455