Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It's Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won't Admit It

336 Pages·2012·2.34 MB·English

by  Richard Sander

Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication
Table of Figures

Preface
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY

I. - INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE - THE IDEA OF MISMATCH, AND WHY IT
MATTERS
CHAPTER TWO - A PRIMER ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
1. Contemporary affirmative action in higher education is
primarily about ...
2. Racial preferences are far more than mere “tie-
breakers.”
3. Virtually all colleges and universities that use racial
preferences have ...
4. Racial preferences produce a “cascade effect.”
5. It’s not so easy to make up lost ground, and it’s more
common to fall behind.
6. How far down the hierarchy of schools do racial
preferences cascade?
7. How do racial preferences compare with other sorts of
preferences used by ...
8. Do universities even attempt to use racial preferences to
create pathways to ...
9. Do racial preferences single out Asians for particularly
unfavorable treatment?
10. Would credential disparities disappear if admissions
preferences ended?
II. - STIRRINGS OF MISMATCH
CHAPTER THREE - THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISMATCH
EFFECT
CHAPTER FOUR - LAW SCHOOL MISMATCH
CHAPTER FIVE - THE DEBATE ON LAW SCHOOL MISMATCH
THE SUBSTANTIVE DEBATE
CHAPTER SIX - THE BREADTH OF MISMATCH
LEARNING
GRADES
STEREOTYPES AND STIGMA
GRADUATION
EARNINGS AND OUTCOMES

III. - THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT: WHAT
HAPPENS AFTER A LEGAL BAN ON RACIAL
PREFERENCES?
CHAPTER SEVEN - PROPOSITION 209
CHAPTER EIGHT - THE WARMING EFFECT
CHAPTER NINE - MISMATCH AND THE SWELLING RANKS
OF GRADUATES
CHAPTER TEN - THE HYDRA OF PREFERENCES

IV. - LAW AND IDEOLOGY
CHAPTER ELEVEN - WHY ACADEMICS AVOID HONEST
DEBATE ABOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
CHAPTER TWELVE - MEDIA, POLITICS, AND THE
ACCOUNTABILITY VOID
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - THE SUPREME COURT
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE GEORGE MASON AFFAIR
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - TRANSPARENCY AND THE
CALIFORNIA BAR AFFAIR

V. - THE WAY FORWARD
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CLASS, RACE, AND THE TARGETING
OF PREFERENCES
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - CLOSING THE TEST SCORE GAP
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - CONCLUSION
REFORM ONE: THE POWER OF TRANSPARENCY
REFORM TWO: TARGETING ECONOMIC NEED BEFORE
RACIAL IDENTITY
REFORM THREE: OUTLAWING RACE-BASED AID
AWARDS
FISHER AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acknowledgments
NOTES
INDEX
Copyright Page
Table of Figures

FIGURE 2.1 . The Cascade Effect
FIGURE 3.1 . The Importance of Relative Position
FIGURE 3.2 . Preferences Can Hide Black Achievement
FIGURE 4.1 . Grades and Bar Passage
FIGURE 4.2 . Many Roads to Success
FIGURE 5.1 . First Choice, Second Choice
FIGURE 5.2 . A Natural Experiment for Law School Mismatch?
FIGURE 6.1 . People with Good Law School Grades Succeed
as Lawyers
FIGURE 8.1 . The Warming Effect
FIGURE 10.1 . Minority Enrollment Falls While Graduation
Numbers Hold Steady
FIGURE 13.1 . Unchastened: Admissions at the University of
Michigan Before and After Gratz v. Bollinger
FIGURE 14.1 . The Fall and Rise of Preferences at GMU Law
FIGURE 16.1 . Drift Toward Affluence
FIGURE 16.2 . Not-So-Diverse
FIGURE 16.3 . Untapped Potential
From Richard Sander:
To Fiona, with all my love

From Stuart Taylor Jr.:
To Gwennie, Rodger, Clare, and Jack,
with much love