Affirmative Action Bans and the "Chilling Effect"

Do bans on affirmative action hurt minority students? Evidence from the Texas Top 10% Plan

In light of the recent bans on affirmative action in higher education, this paper provides new evidence on the effects of alternative admissions policies on the persistence and college completion of minority students. I find that the change from affirmative action to the Top 10% Plan in Texas decreased both retention and graduation rates of lower-ranked minority students. Results show that both...

Discrimination and Affirmative Action

The word discrimination is used loosely to encapsulate negative ideas surrounding the practice. In the case of affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan, discrimination is used to justify an unjust practice. Generally, when affirmative action is debated, it is considered from a singular perspective (i.e., it is wrong or it is right). Most ignore that admissions polici...

Understanding affirmative action.

Affirmative action is a controversial and often poorly understood policy. It is also a policy that has been widely studied by social scientists. In this review, we outline how affirmative action operates in employment and education settings and consider the major points of controversy. In addition, we detail the contributions of psychologists and other social scientists in helping to demonstrat...

Color-Blind Affirmative Action

This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the consequences of the widespread adoption of “race-neutral alternatives” to conventional racial affirmative action policies in college admissions. A simple model of applicant competition with endogenous effort is utilized to show that, in comparison to color-conscious affirmative action, these color-blind alternatives can significan...

Affirmative action, Cuban style.