The Research Basis for Affirmative Action: A Statement by Leading Researchers
The Research Basis for Affirmative Action: a Statement by Leading Researchers
The Supreme Court’s long awaited decision in the Fisher v. University of Texas case did not create any new legal precedents, but the Court did clarify that the federal courts must employ strict scrutiny when testing whether institutions have created narrowly tailored admissions policies, particularly when examining race-neutral alternatives. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts for further examination of the facts, consistent with the standards of Grutter v. Bollinger and Fisher. There was an extensive level of participation by researchers and research associations in the case, including amicus briefs submitted by the American Educational Research Association and by American Social Scientists signed by 444 researchers. In the decision, the Court recognized the right of universities to pursue diversity as a compelling educational interest. The Court also emphasized that use of race, if challenged, requires a clear judicial finding that the campus has shown that it could not find a workable and feasible non-racial strategy that would produce the desired level of diversity at tolerable administrative expense.
In the next stage of affirmative action policy, then, the existing body of research will play a very important role, as will the way in which campuses can apply such research in their local setting. Moving forward, we will also need continued rigorous social science evidence to further understand, among many: the need for diversity; the conditions on the campuses and in the communities from which students are recruited; the implications of general principles applied to a local setting; and the basis upon which campus diversity goals are set and evaluated. As a starting point for these discussions, we offer the following brief summary of major research findings to help university leaders and communities formulate plans and justifications that both satisfy the legal requisites and have a firm grounding in research.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013) affirms Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and highlights the critical nature of rigorous social science in making and defending sound decisions about admissions policies. The decision does not challenge the now powerful evidence of the benefits of diverse educational opportunities. As has been the case since Grutter, universities will need to continue to clearly document how they have considered any race-neutral alternatives and that they have considered race only to the extent necessary to achieve a diverse student body. The Court’s decision underscores the importance of two bodies of research that burgeoned over the last two decades: the benefits of diversity and the effectiveness or failings (on a wide range of outcomes) of admissions alternatives intended to create diverse student bodies. A third body of research, the assessment of whether students may be potentially mismatched with elite institutions through race-conscious admissions, is also of great importance to affirmative action. As Fisher returns to the lower court for reconsideration, it is important to highlight the essential components of what research shows...
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