The Declining Significance of Race

Race-Based Affirmative Action in College Admissions between 1986 and 2003

Abstract : Using eighteen years of data from more than 1,300 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, we investigate the extent to which institutional prestige, school sector, ethnic composition relative to that of the state, and changes in state affirmative action policy influence the propensity of colleges to consider race/ethnicity in their admissions decisions. We find that stated preferences for minority students in admissions increase slightly from 1986 to the early 1990s but then decline sharply from the mid 1990s until 2003. The decline is more pronounced for public than otherwise similar private institutions. More prestigious institutions are more likely to engage in affirmative action than other institutions and public institutions are more likely to engage in affirmative action at the beginning of our period of study than private institutions. Institutional support for affirmative action is affected both directly and indirectly by court decisions and administrative policies that restrict affirmative action. Effects of other policies, including ballot initiatives and laws, are less clear. We argue that sociological theories of stratification are ill equipped to explain the observed patterns of institutional preferences for minority students and suggest a rearticulation of Turner’s notion of sponsored mobility as a useful theoretical alternative. Authors : Eric Grodsky, University of California, Davis , Demetra Kalogrides, University of California, Davis

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