Tests, affirmative action in university admissions, and the American way

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Abstract

Affirmative action in postsecondary school admissions has been fiercely debated. Data for selective colleges suggest that Black students have admission test scores about 1.3 SDs lower than those of Whites. Has affirmative action had a positive effect on Black-White differences? Data on college completion rates and income of college graduates suggest that the Black-White differences in these measures have not changed in the last 25 years or have gotten relatively worse for Blacks. It is further argued that the college a student attends is unimportant with respect to academic achievement. Achievement test results show that 93% of the variance in outcome is due to characteristics of the individual, and only a maximum of 7% is due to the institution attended. None of the data considered show positive effects for affirmative action. Affirmative action should be discontinued for postsecondary school admissions because it is ineffective as a social policy. If there is still concern about access to higher education, open admissions should be required at all colleges and universities.

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APA

Detterman, D. K. (2000). Tests, affirmative action in university admissions, and the American way. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 6(1), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8971.6.1.44

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