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Affirmative Action And American Higher Education:

Posted on:2015-12-11Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:D S XiaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:1317330518989280Subject:Higher Education
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Affirmative action,theoretically,is a compensatory measure on the basis of racial and gender non-discrimination aimed at aiding the disadvantaged groups in order to achieve broader social equality in education, employment and other policy spheres. While its constitutionality is rooted in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, its conceptual genesis can be traced to the New Deal era under President Roosevelt. As a concrete policy, however, affirmative action was first introduced by the John F. Kennedy administration and was officially formulated during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Initially focused on fighting racism and social inequality, it was broadened to provide some degree of preference to minorities, women and other groups in employment, education and public works contract. As such, ever since its inception as a federal social policy, affirmative action has never ceased to be controversial in American society.Controversial as it is, affirmative action in essence is to erase and eradicate discriminations historically suffered by minorities and women, thus creating equal opportunities in education and employment for all people and ensuring social justice through interventions of the federal government. The ultimate goal is an ideal society free from inequalities and discrimination, which in spirit is consistent with the 14th Amendment and Causes 6 and 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.In reality and in practice, however, opponents in large part rely on the same constitutional and legal covenants to argue that affirmative action violates the principle of non-discrimination and is therefore a kind of reflexive discrimination against those not covered by it. This paradox abundantly reflects the complexities and social sensitivity of affirmative action in America.In this dissertation I intend to comprehensively analyze affirmative action and its implementation from an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary angle, concentrating on affirmative action as applied in university and college admissions, arguably the most controversial affirmative action practice. I begins with an overview of the historical evolution of affirmative action in the United States as well as an assessment of its future in the American body politic.Combining historical research with insights from political philosophy and jurisprudence, more detailed analyses strive to probe the inner logic of affirmative action in higher education in practice while also presenting a nuanced picture of what it means to be affirmative action.In so doing I comb through some major Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action in higher education in the broader context of socio-political changes in the United States in the past decades. Insofar as the constitutionality of affirmative action remains contested and more rulings are likely to come from the court system, synthesizing these thoughts and materials is nonetheless a first such effort for the scholarly community in China, which will most certainly assist our understanding and critical evaluation of affirmative action in theory and in practice. Furthermore, I will attempt to investigate the deeper philosophical and conceptual roots and foundations for affirmative action from the perspectives of liberalism about equality and justice, which I believe will help us better appreciate the contestations of fundamental values in American political discourse.This dissertation consists of the following six parts.Part one is introduction which relates the causes and value of topic choice, research review at home and abroad, research path and ways, innovation and inadequacy, the whole structure of this dissertation.Part two explores an overall perspective of American affirmative action which covers the following four topics: (1) the content of affirmative action; (2) the history process of affirmative action; (3)the debates of affirmative action; and (4) the present situation of affirmative action.Part three elaborately analyses all rulings of the Supreme Court about affirmative action in higher education enrollment and shows the practice development and disputes of affirmative action programs. The cases decided by the Supreme Court includes: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke(1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), Fisher v.University of Texas (2013),_Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014).Part four deeply analyses the key evidence of affirmative action judicial practice which focus on the diversity. This paper concludes that the value of diversity appears in the following three sides: (1) the diversity students group brings the education benefits; (2) the diversity students group brings political and social benefits; and (3)the diversity students group brings the difference and diverse Culture which essentially promotes creation. At last, this chapter explores the evolution and future of diversity in affirmative action.Part five analyses the logic of affirmative action policy and the debates about affirmative action by using John Rawls's justice theory. This part concludes that the debates about affirmative action reflect several contradictory relations: equality and efficiency; equalitarianism and elitism;liberalism and conservatism; intervention and anti-intervention; and so on.Part six is conclusion. This study concludes that the task of affirmative action in America is still not finished and the disputes about it will continue in the future.
Keywords/Search Tags:Affirmative action, Affirmative action program, Affirmative action policy, United States Supreme Court, Diversity, Justice, Higher education equality, Minority ethnic group, American higher education, Reverse discrimination, Racial discrimination
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