The Right Thing to Do, The Smart Thing to Do Enhancing Diversity in the Health Professions -- Summary of the Symposium on Diversity in Health Professions in Honor of Herbert W. Nickens, M.D. (2001) / Chapter Skim
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College Admissions Policies and the Educational Pipeline: Implications for Medical and Health Professions
College Admissions Policies and the Educational Pipeline: Implications for Medical and Health Professions
Pages 117-142
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From page 117... ...
On Me other hand, states with large shares of black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American youth have led the charge to eliminate race-sensitive college admission policies adopted during the 1960s and upheld by the Supreme Court in the well-publicized suit against the University of Californian In reaching an opinion, Justice Powell reasoned that, "The achievement of a diverse student body .
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From page 118... ...
Given the profound demographic changes experienced by California and Texas since 1970, it is hardly a coincidence that thee charge to end affirmative action in college admissions originated in these states. from an analytical standpoint.
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From page 119... ...
Although the minority share of medical school graduates is miniscule compared to the size of the college-age population, admission to the top medical schools remains extremely competitive and is becoming increasingly so. Recent actions to disallow consideration of race or national origin in college admission decisions in those states with the largest minority populations can reverse the trend toward greater representation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans in medical and health professions if declining minority admissions at the key feeder colleges and universities restrict the pool of admissible applicants.
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From page 120... ...
Because California's plan has only been implemented this year, enrollment trends for black, Hispanics, and Native American students from 1997 to 1999 portray the scenario in the absence of any deliberate strategy to diversify college campuses.7 To conclude, I discuss the long-term prospects of percent plans in the context of a highly segregated society, highlighting the criticisms wagered by supporters and critics of the percent plans. EDUCATIONAL PIPELINES: TRENDS AND PROSPECTS National data provide a useful point of departure for appraising educational pipelines in the context of growing population diversity.
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From page 121... ...
Figure 2 depicts transitions through the educational pipeline for black, white, Hispanic, and Asian youth. High school graduation rates range from 94 percent for Asians compared to 90, 84, and 80 percent for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, respectively.
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From page 122... ...
122 Dropout n= 1341 7.8% NOT Enrolled in Post-Secondary EDU N= 5594 36.8% Institution Type N= 8689 Degree . obtained N= 8689 L...................................
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From page 123... ...
COLLEGEADMISSIONPOLICIESANDTHEEDUCATIONALPIPELINE 123 HS Sophomores (1980) W: 77.5 B: 1 3.7 H: 7.5 A: 1.3 Dropout W: 6.4 B: 1 1.9 H: 15.1 A: 2.5 .
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From page 124... ...
THE RISE AND FALL OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: BAKI[E ED BEYOND In the 1978 Supreme Court ruling against the University of-California, Judge Powell was explicit in noting that race-sensitive admission criteria are permitted to harness the educational benefits that flow from an ethnically diverse student body and to reduce the historic deficit of traditionally disfavored minorities, but not for countering the effects of past societal discrimination or to increase the number of educated minorities in underserved communities. However, the extent to which and the ways in which race and ethnic origin figure into college admission decisions is largely unknown and probably highly variable across campuses.
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From page 125... ...
The banning of affirmative action in Texas following the 1996 Hopwood ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court against the University of Texas Law School, and the passage of Proposition 209 by an overwhelming majority of California voters, not only challenged institutions of higher education to seek alternative strategies to diversify their campuses, but also politicized stakeholders at a time that minorities came to dominate their school-aged populations. Not surprisingly, several other states with large minority populations, notably Florida, Washington, and Georgia, followed suit.
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From page 126... ...
12 This two-state comparison serves as a quasi-natural experiment that permits a preliminary answer to the following questions: First, how successful is the Texas Top 10 percent plan in maintaining the ethno-racial diversity of the entering classes relative to a regime that permits consideration of race or national origin in college admission decisions? Second, what are the consequences of eliminating race-sensitive admissions in the absence of a substitute plan?
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From page 127... ...
. Texas Texas was the first state to implement a percent plan based on class rankings, which essentially shifts the weight of admissibility from standardized test scores to performance-based measures that are known to be much better predictors of college success.~3 The impact on minority and nonminority populations of the new admission guidelines depends both on demographic and educational trends that shape the student pipelines into higher education and residential segregation patterns that underpin spatially distributed social and economic opportunities.
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From page 128... ...
Table 1 presents summary data on matriculants by race and Hispanic origin Mom 1989 Trough 1999 for both the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. At best, the Top 10 percent plan generates mixed |5 This is important because students who are not in the top 10 percent of their graduating class must seek admission based on other criteria, including their class rank, completion of required high school curriculum, SAT or ACT scores, two essays, and evidence of participation in school activities, awards, work experience, service activities, and other indicators of leadership or special circumstances.
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From page 129... ...
International students slightly increased their share of the freshmen classes, but it is unclear if this represents a real trend or a temporary blip. Whether the "rebound" of black and Hispanic students is attributable to the 10 percent plan or other changes implemented in criteria used by admissions offices remains an open question, but it would seem that changed admission guidelines favored Asians as much as, if not more than, African Americans and Hispanics.
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From page 130... ...
130 THE RIGHT THING TO DO, THE SMART THING TO DO TABLE 1 Freshmen Enrollment In Texas Flagship Public Universities by Race and Hispanic Ong~n 1989-1999 fin percent) UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Native International/ Year White Black Hispanic Asian American Unknown Total (n)
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From page 131... ...
Furthermore, assessing the success of the Top 10 percent plan based only on the ethno-racial composition of entering classes obscures an additional aspect of diversity and broadened opportunity fostered by the new admission criteria, namely the increase in the number of high schools that send students to UT Austin.'8 This aspect of diversity representation from high and low performing school& warrants further scrutiny, but it is an important aspect of educational opportunity that also bears on the pipeline to medical and health professions. Although similar enrollment rates do not guarantee similar graduation rates, there is no a priori reason to expect that graduation rates will be dramatically different between the Top 10 percent admits before and after the Hopwood decision.
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From page 132... ...
That the Texas 10 percent plan does not affect medical and professional schools poses great uncertainty about the future diversity of Texas medical school students. A great deal of this future rests on the success of the Top 10 percent plan in providing an adequate pool of minority college graduates who are admissible to the top medical schools in the state.
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From page 133... ...
Whether the improved high school graduation rates of Hispanic students will translate to higher college enrollment rates depends in large measure on the consequences of changed admission guidelines. In the aftermath of Proposition 209, the prospects are not encouraging.
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From page 134... ...
panic share of the freshman class dropped by about one-third, from 18.3 percent in 1996 to between 11 and 12 percent after 1998. Native American representation, which lowered between one and one and a half percent, fell to less than one-half of one percent.
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From page 135... ...
It is unlikely Hat the Top 4 percent plan Will recover any of the ground lost in the diversity of the Berkeley and UCLA campuses because California's percent plan only guarantees a slot in the UC system, not necessarily at the flagship institutions. Moreover, the success of California's Top 4 percent plan depends crucially on He contours of residential segregation.
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From page 136... ...
If swelling numbers of Hispanic college-age youth are not accompanied by commensurate increases in college attendance and graduation rates, educational inequality will rise dramatically in the near future. Although only 19.8 percent of all African Americans reside in Texas and California, recent court decisions in Georgia prohibiting consideration of race in college decisions will surely impact the pipeline of African Americans into college and, subsequently, medical and professional schools.
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From page 137... ...
Michigan was the first to follow, when in 1997 the Center for Individual Rights sued the University of Michigan on behalf of two white students denied admission to the University's liberal arts college and, in a separate lawsuit, on behalf of a white woman denied admission to the law school. Rather than cave in, the University of Michigan opted to defend its policies on grounds that clear educational benefits flow from a racially diverse student body (Gratz v.
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From page 138... ...
Similar legal challenges and difficulties characterize college admissions in Georgia, which has been sued for allegedly using racial "quotas" to achieve minority representation at its flagship institutions. Ironically, the University of Georgia's history of discrimination against Blacks and 20 years of federally mandated affirmative action are relevant to the development of race-sensitive admission criteria that are currently being challenged in court.
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From page 139... ...
Obviously, the legal and political climate over the use of affirmative action in college admissions is both highly fluid and politicized. Although many of the legal challenges are directed at law and professional schools, the percent plans are designed to govern admission to undergraduate institutions.
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From page 140... ...
Certainly, their admission guidelines will be affected if the Supreme Court, upon reconsidering the merits of race-sensitive admission criteria, decides to reverse the Bakke decision. Objections to race-sensitive admission policies were justified on the grounds that giving preferential advantage to underrepresented groups based on ascribed criteria denies admission to putatively more qualified students (Kane, 1998; Bowen & B ok, 1998~.
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From page 141... ...
(1998~. Misconceptions in the debate over affirmative action in college admissions.
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From page 142... ...
(2000~. Texas college enrollments before and after Hopwood: Assessing the impacts on minorities of changed admission criteria.
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