Abstract
In two recent cases involving the University of Michigan, the Supreme Court examined whether race should be allowed to play an explicit role in the admission decisions of schools. The primary argument in these court cases and others has been that racial diversity strengthens the quality of education offered to all students. Underlying this argument is the notion that educational benefits arise if interactions between students of different races improve preparation for life after college by, among other things, fostering mutual understanding and correcting misperceptions. Then, a fundamental condition necessary for the primary legal argument to be compelling is that the types of students who choose to enter college actually have incorrect beliefs about individuals from different races at the time of college entrance. In this paper we provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct evidence about this condition by taking advantage of unique new data that was collected specifically for this purpose.
Document Type
Research Paper
Publication Date
7-2007
Discussion Paper Number
DP 2007-03
Repository Citation
Camargo, Braz; Stinebrickner, Ralph; and Stinebrickner, Todd, "Evidence about the Potential role for Affirmative Action in Higher Education" (2007). University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series. 100.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ukcpr_papers/100
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Higher Education Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons
