The shape of the river
Subtitle: long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions
By: William G. Bowen and Derek Bok ; in collaboration with James L. Shulman ... [et al.].
Contributors: Bok, Derek Curtis.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Princeton, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 472
Subjects: Universities and colleges -- United States -- Admission -- Case studies; Affirmative action programs in education -- United States -- Case studies; African Americans -- Education (Higher) -- Case studies; African American college graduates -- Case studies
Genres: Case studies.
Description: Across the country, in courts, classrooms, and the media, Americans are deeply divided over the use of race in admitting students to universities. Yet until now the debate over race and admissions has consisted mainly of clashing opinions, uninformed by hard evidence. This work, written by two of the country's most respected academic leaders, intends to change that.

It brings a wealth of empirical evidence to bear on how race-sensitive admissions policies actually work and what effects they have on students of different races.

William G. Bowen, argue that we can pass an informed judgment on the wisdom of race-sensitive admissions only if we understand in detail the college careers and the subsequent lives of students - or, to use a metaphor they take from Mark Twain, if we learn the shape of the entire river.

The heart of the book is thus an unprecedented study of the academic, employment, and personal histories of more than 45,000 students of all races who attended academically selective universities between the 1970s and the early 1990s.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [451]-459) and index.