Affirmative Action: Opportunities In Higher Education

Proponents of affirmative action believe that it is a necessary step toward racial equality. Opponents argue on the basis of “reverse racism,” which claims that affirmative action keeps certain members of the majority ethnic group out of jobs or other positions that they deserve solely because of quotas that must be filled. The positive effects of affirmative action are the basis behind the arguments of those who support considering ethnicity and race as a part of admissions.

Affirmative Action has become one of the most controversial issues regarding college admissions. It is an issue that exposes profiling to its highest extent. Race, gender and income now become vital factors in education opportunities. Affirmative Action is the procedure that is used as a criteria in admissions that will increase the points a college applicant receives on their application evaluation based on the previous factors. Whether race should be considered in the admission of a college applicant, is without a doubt a must in all states. Affirmative Action definitely will improve the opportunities of a minority student applying at a university but it will not be the deciding factor. When

In eight University of California campuses where affirmative action is no longer implemented the enrollment of black students only declined by 17% and the enrollment of Hispanics declined only by 6.9%. Even without the use of it, minorities are still getting into colleges. There is no need for discriminatory programs like affirmative action because there is not a big difference between minority groups and whites anymore. If some person has the potential and desire to succeed they can succeed. Everyone can do anything they want to do if they have what is takes to enter the university or job.

Affirmative action in college admissions continues to be heatedly debated. In 2003, the Supreme Court had ruled in Grutter v. Bollinger that diversity was a compelling interest for colleges to use race in admissions. In the amicus brief that the American Sociological Association et al. provided to the Supreme Court, sociological evidence was presented to elucidate the value of affirmative action. Yet in 2006, Proposal 2 was passed in Michigan to ban affirmative action in public education (Levitsky). Based on the information in the amicus brief, the correlation between race and socioeconomic status of the minorities, and the negative effects of banning affirmative action, admissions officers at the University of Michigan should consider

color of their skin.  And how can we even be surprised that there is racial

Two people stand in a room looking at a vibrant painting and receive a totally different image. This is something we all realize can happen. It is our different perspectives that make us valuable too each other. When trying to solve a problem or create a new idea, we need each other to bring forth considerations and concepts that would never occur otherwise. This concept is something most of us grasp in theory, yet it never ceases to confound and confuse us if someone draws a conclusion tangent from ours when presented with the same information. This situation lies at the heart of the argument over affirmative action. Policies that are viewed by some as righting past wrongs are viewed by

Even though programs like affirmative action help incorporate more diversity in employment and education, history still haunts the minorities of today and continues to affect their lives and careers, as evident in the number of minorities in the medical field.

With America’s growing minority population, the healthcare field needed to reflect the change. Therefore, medical schools implemented affirmative action plans in order to address this issue. However, the controversy started to rise when white college applicants began to take legal action against public universities and medical schools over the admission process. While some people suggest affirmative action enhances students learning experiences and brings diversity to the medical field, others argue that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause and should instead of using race as a factor, medical schools should use socioeconomic factors in the admission process. Nevertheless, while racial and socioeconomic diversity is

With America’s growing minority population, the healthcare field needed to reflect the change. Therefore, medical schools implemented affirmative action plans in order to address this issue. However, controversy started to rise when white college applicants began to take legal action against public universities and medical schools over the admissions process. While some people suggest affirmative action enhances students learning experiences and brings diversity to the medical field, others argue that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and should instead use socioeconomic factors in the admissions process. Nevertheless, while racial and socioeconomic diversity is important in medical education, some aspects of these

In the United States justice is defined as equal treatment of all its citizens under the law. When one citizen is mistreated an injustice has been committed against all people. Affirmative Action is a program whose purpose is to make sure that citizens are treated equally by enforcing a set of policies which are designed to promote the inclusion of all individuals regardless of race, disability, sex, or religion. In the United States democracy we are all equal, but some groups have been enjoying more advantages in society than others for centuries. Current statistics show the depth of modern day racial gaps, which are rooted in historical discrimination and modern-day structural racism. Generations of nominal disadvantages have created

Known as one of the biggest obstacles in higher education to date would arguably be the use of affirmative action within the higher education admission process for both private and public institutions (Kaplin & Lee, 2014; Wang & Shulruf, 2012). The focus of current research is an attempt to either justify or deny the use of affirmative action within current practices through various higher education institutions, and though any one person could potentially be swayed to side with the rationale to maintain its use or disregard, the facts are quite clear that the future of this practice is unclear. Therefore, this essay will present current research in an attempt to determine if affirmative action should continue to be used

I think affirmative action was fair at its inception under Lynden B. Johnson, and throughout the remainder of the 20th century, but I don’t feel it’s fair in society today.

Pelina and Nicole were less hesitant to blame their college struggle on race directly. While they both understood that race creates barrier in the society they did not attribute that to their hardships faced in college. They listed other outside sources such as income, network, motivation, and one’s brain capacity. But both emphasize that class, not race, is the main contributor to student’s performance in college. Although it may not be direct, there is no doubt a relationship between class and race that we cannot ignore. In his article, Race, Socioeconomic Status and Health: Complexities, Ongoing Challenges and Research Opportunities, David Williams explain that while looking at the data from 1998 -2006 “Both blacks and Hispanics have levels of overall poverty that are two to three times higher than those of whites. Asians have poverty levels that are generally comparable to those of the white population” (pg. 6) . He goes further in explaining these disparities and mentions that “Among persons with income in the bottom 20% of all US households, for every dollar of

Some would argue that affirmative action only hurts those of minority, I would agree. Affirmative action allows those of minority the ability to attend school on race and not so much academics. Using this as a standard to allow students into a school not only hurts a student but the university as well. When students are allowed to enter a university because of race and not their abilities it only hinders that student. There have been several court cases sense the beginning of affirmative action, most of which have upheld the AA rule.

According to a study by a team of researchers at the University of Albany, 19% to 21% of white students with student loans defaulted (failed to pay on time), whereas, 33% to 56% of African Americans defaulted (Volwein et al. 1998: 216). The report cites loans and especially loan defaults as a source of extreme stress and pressure to succeed that often detract from academic achievement instead of aiding it (Volkwein et al. 1998). This is evident in the data provided by the United States Board of Education that showed black students GPA (2.47 average) to be .41 points lower than the white student average of 2.88 (2009). Interestingly, even those who do perform similarly to their white counterparts are less likely to reap the benefits of their success. A research team at Georgetown University found, “Among African-American and Hispanic college students who score more than 1200 out of the possible 1600 points on the SAT/ACT, 57% eventually get a certificate, an Associate’s degree, or a Bachelor’s degree or better; for white students the percentage rises to 77%” (VerBruggen 2013: 1). This statistic, along with all others from the quantitative side of literature on this issue, blatantly point out the disparity in access to academic resources, academic performance before and during college, stress caused by student loans, and opportunities following college between white and minority