This is the book that has forever changed the debate on affirmative action in America. "The Shape of the River" is the most far-reaching and comprehensive study of its kind. It brings a wealth of empirical evidence to bear on how race-sensitive admissions policies actually work and clearly defines the effects they have had on over 45,000 students of different races. Its conclusions mark a turning point in national discussions of affirmative action--anything less than factual evidence will no longer suffice in any serious debate of this vital question.
Glenn Loury's new foreword revisits the basic logic behind race-sensitive policies, asserting that since individuals use race to conceptualize themselves, we must be conscious of race as we try to create rules for a just society. Loury underscores the need for confronting opinion with fact so we can better see the distinction between the "morality of color-blindness" and the "morality of racial justice."
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.
The authors are the economist William G. Bowen, President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former President of Princeton University, and Derek Bok, former President of Harvard University and former Dean of the Harvard Law School. Bowen and Bok 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.
The study reveals how much race-sensitive admissions increase the likelihood that blacks will be admitted to selective universities and demonstrates what effect the termination of these policies would have on the number of minority students at different kinds of selective institutions. The authors go on to determine how well black students have performed academically in comparison to their white classmates, what success they have had in their subsequent careers, and how actively they have participated in civic and community affairs. The authors also explore the views expressed by graduates of selective colleges about the value of their education and the contributions that a diverse student body has made to their capacity to live and work with people of other races.
In the final chapters, Bowen and Bok relate their findings to the current debate about the wisdom of race-sensitive admissions. They consider whether critics are correct in claiming that such policies harm their intended beneficiaries by forcing minority students to compete with academically superior classmates. They examine alternative policies that have been proposed to increase diversity without relying explicitly on race in the admissions process. They end by reflecting on the thorny question of whether the concept of "merit" is compatible with a deliberate effort to achieve a racially diverse student body.
Authoritative, powerfully argued, and elegantly written, this book is a landmark work in one of the most important debates in recent American history. In the words of Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, ""The Shape of the River " should be essential reading for anyone seeking a dependable guide through the morass of competing claims that obscure from public attention the questions that need to be posed and the answers that need to be assessed."
Industry Reviews
Winner of the 2001 Grawemeyer Award in Education Winner of the 1999 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Government and Political Science, Association of American Publishers "The most ambitious and authoritative study to date of the effects of affirmative action in higher education, ... a serious (though accessible) work of research, ... an important corrective to conservative propaganda masquerading as social science."--Ellis Cose, Newsweek "A compelling new book ... demonstrates why affirmative action programs can be good for the country... The authors prove with facts, not anecdotes, that affirmative action works... With the presidential commission having fallen flat in trying to advance the national discussion on race, it may be the smaller-scale efforts, like the Bowen and Bok book, that better lay the groundwork for long-term change."--Los Angeles Times "No study of this magnitude has been attempted before. Its findings provide a strong rationale for opposing current efforts to demolish race-sensitive policies in colleges across the country... The evidence collected flatly refutes many of the misimpressions of affirmative-action opponents."--The New York Times "The Shape of the River is the most comprehensive study ever done of affirmative action in higher education, and it demands the attention of anyone who cares about American universities."--David Gergen, U.S. News and World Report "The Shape of the River ... offers much more comprehensive statistics and much more sophisticated analysis than has been available before. Impressionistic and anecdotal evidence will no longer suffice: any respectable discussion of the consequences of affirmative action in universities must now either acknowledge its findings or challenge them, and any challenge must match the standards of breadth and statistical professionalism that Bowen, Bok, and their colleagues have achieved."--Ronald Dworkin, New York Review of Books "What is good for business in this case is good for society too--good for us all. This report may, at last, make that fact evident even to the most obtuse."--Garry Wills, The Plain Dealer "On the strength of [the authors'] credentials the reader can expect much, and much is delivered... The Shape of the River is a monumental achievement. Its foundation is so solidly anchored to a bedrock of data that it will be relied upon as a navigational beacon for years to come."--Robert E. Thatch, Science
