Even as lawsuits challenging its admissions policies made their way through the courts, the University of Michigan carried the torch for affirmative action in higher education. In June 2003, the Supreme Court vindicated UM's position on affirmative action when it ruled that race may be used as a factor for universities in their admissions programs, thus confirming what the UM had argued all along: diversity in the classroom translates to a beneficial and wide-ranging social value. With the green light given to the law school's admissions policies, Defending Diversity validates the positive benefits gained by students in a diverse educational setting. Written by prominent University of Michigan faculty, Defending Diversity is a timely response to the court's ruling. Providing factual background, historical setting, and the psychosocial implications of affirmative action, the book illuminates the many benefits of a diverse higher educational setting -- including preparing students to be full participants in a pluralistic democracy -- and demonstrates why affirmative action is necessary to achieve that diversity. Defending Diversity is a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion on affirmative action in higher education. Perhaps more important, it is a valuable record of the history, events, arguments, and issues surrounding the original lawsuits and the Supreme Court's subsequent ruling, and helps reclaim the debate from those forces opposed to affirmative action. Patricia Gurin is Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan. Jeffrey S. Lehman, former Dean of the University of Michigan Law School, is President of Cornell University. Earl Lewis is Dean of Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan.
This report presents national normative data on the major trends and characteristics of 1.6 million students attending American colleges and universities as first-time, full-time freshmen. The normative data are reported separately for men and for women and for 35 different institutional groupings. Among the findings are the following: (1) student interests in business continues to decline for the fourth straight year; (2) students are being affected by the current economic recession; (3) student interest in doctoral degrees reached an all-time high (12.5 percent), and interest in medical degrees, at 6.9 percent, reached its highest point since 1976; (3) students who frequently smoke cigarettes increased for the fourth straight year to 11.3 percent, after a decline of nearly 50 percent between 1966 and 1987; (4) the percentage of students who consider themselves "liberal" or "far left" increased for the second straight year (to 25.7 percent from 23.6 percent in 1989); (5) the percentage of freshmen with A or A+ high school grade point averages reached an all-time high (23.5 percent versus 12.5 percent in 1989); and (6) trends suggest that students are using alcohol and, until recently, cigarettes, much less than in the past. Appendices include the research methodology, the 1991 student information form, a list of institutions participating in the freshman survey, and the precision of the normative data and their comparisons. Appendixes make up half of the document; they present the research methodology, the 1991 Student Information Form, the coding scheme for collapsed items, a list of institutions participating in the freshman survey, an explanation of the precision of the normative data and their comparisons, and a sample of the report furnished to campuses participating in the 1991 Cooperative Institutional Research Program. (GLR)
This report provides a normative profile of the American college freshman population for the fall of 1992 obtained from a national survey of 213,630 students from 404 of the nation's two- and four-year colleges and universities. The normative data presented are reported separately for men and women. The major stratifying factors are institutional race (predominantly black versus predominantly white), control (public, private-nonsectarian, Roman Catholic, Protestant), type (university, four-year college, two-year college), and the selectivity level of the institution. Among the major trends identified are that students are showing an interest in majoring in the health professions (15.6 percent in 1992, up from 12.9 percent in 1991 and doubled since 1987); students are increasingly basing their college choices on economic, rather than educational considerations; and student interest in business careers continues to decline. In addition, freshmen alcohol consumption is down with only 53.5 percent indicating they drink beer frequently or occasionally. Other changes in freshman attitudes include: an increase in belief that employers be allowed to drug test (82.4 percent); an overall increase in the endorsement of more responsible sexual conduct; and a continued increasing trend towards political liberalism. Appendices detail the research methodology and present the 1992 Student Information Form, the coding scheme for collapsed items, a list of the institutions participating in the Freshmen Survey, and a sample report furnished to the participating campuses. (GLR)
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