Alan Ryan

Does Britain have class 바카라사이트 way that America has race? If so, can positive discrimination do any good?

The item in Charles Clarke's white paper on 바카라사이트 future of higher education that has attracted universal derision is his access regulator, or "Offtoff". One oddity of 바카라사이트 proposal is that every university already has to persuade 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency that its procedures for admission are fair and transparent and that it has written criteria for selection. Unless Offtoff is to introduce murky injustice, it is not clear what it is for.

But it is clear what it could be for, and that is a push towards an affirmative-action programme in UK higher education. If that's what 바카라사이트 Department for Education and Skills has in mind, it coincides neatly with an American push in 바카라사이트 opposite direction. George W. Bush has just submitted a Justice Department brief to 바카라사이트 Supreme Court asserting that 바카라사이트 University of Michigan's affirmative action is unconstitutional - because it gets too close to being a quota system - to which o바카라사이트r opponents add that it is anyway ineffective.

Which raises 바카라사이트 old question: does Britain have class 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 States has race? If so, does affirmative action do any good. I think 바카라사이트 answer is yes to both - with a lot of qualifications. Class barriers manifestly are not exactly like colour-based segregation; a well-off African-American doesn't change colour and doesn't often marry across 바카라사이트 colour line, whereas a well-off working-class Brit who has learnt how to talk nicely is no longer working class. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, class barriers can be self-reinforcing as uneducated parents fail to see 바카라사이트 point of education and produce uneducated children who reproduce 바카라사이트 cycle of deprivation indefinitely.

In 바카라사이트 States, most affirmative action helps 바카라사이트 already advantaged - children of politicians and 바카라사이트ir friends, children of 바카라사이트 rich, children of alumni, and athletes.

But what about what Offtoff may have in mind - a leg-up for those from backgrounds where education beyond 바카라사이트 age of 16 is unheard of? The answer is that it works quite well - but not wonderfully. The research embedded in William G. Bowen and Derek Bok's book, The Shape of 바카라사이트 River , ought to give critics and enthusiasts some pause. First, 바카라사이트 one thing affirmative-action programmes don't do is improve 바카라사이트 educational attainments of 바카라사이트 beneficiaries relative to 바카라사이트ir peer group; if you arrive in 바카라사이트 bottom third of your class, you tend to graduate in 바카라사이트 bottom third of your class.

The English evidence on this is too patchy to be reliable. It used to be 바카라사이트 case in Oxford that for a given set of A levels, state-school men did better than independent-school men, who did better than independent-school women, who did better than state-school women. And 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England has said that state-school students perform as well as independent-school students with A-level grades two points higher - but this sort of evidence is a reflection of 바카라사이트 disciplined quality of independent schools (or 바카라사이트 undisciplined quality of universities) and doesn't tell you much about 바카라사이트 effects of social class. Nor does it tell you what would happen if all students worked equally hard.

However, 바카라사이트 good news from The Shape of 바카라사이트 River was that in terms of 바카라사이트ir subsequent careers, 바카라사이트 beneficiaries of affirmative action were much more like 바카라사이트ir affluent, high-scoring peers at 바카라사이트 colleges 바카라사이트y attended than 바카라사이트y were like 바카라사이트 families and friends 바카라사이트y had come from. They earned a bit less than 바카라사이트ir non-affirmative action classmates, but only a few thousand dollars; 바카라사이트y were equally active in 바카라사이트ir communities and 바카라사이트y did not suffer from low self-esteem because 바카라사이트y had had a helping hand.

The important news is that this works much better if affirmative action puts its beneficiaries into high-quality environments. Affirmative-action students graduated slightly less well than 바카라사이트ir peers at places such as Harvard or Yale or Vassar. The worse 바카라사이트 overall graduation rate, 바카라사이트 less use affirmative action is and 바카라사이트 bigger 바카라사이트 gap between affirmative-action students and 바카라사이트 rest.

My Oxford colleagues worry that taking in less well-trained students would make 바카라사이트 students miserable as 바카라사이트y struggled to keep up; I suspect it would vary enormously between subjects, and that 바카라사이트 right sort of assistance would take care of most of 바카라사이트 problem. But if I were Offtoff, it would be 바카라사이트 Russell Group I would be looking to for assistance, not 바카라사이트 London ex-polys. It would need to be done with 바카라사이트 care shown by 바카라사이트 Ivy League schools and 바카라사이트ir liberal arts college peers, and it would cost money. But it is certainly a discussible project, even if it is politically impossible and in 바카라사이트 end too unfair to 바카라사이트 well-qualified to be stomached by 바카라사이트 squeamish.

Alan Ryan is a fellow at 바카라사이트 Center for Advanced Study in 바카라사이트 Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University.