“We Count What Matters”: Students’ Color-Blind “Merit-Based” Logic and the Reproduction of Inequality in a College Admissions Activity

The authors introduce a college admissions simulation activity that facilitates discussions of affirmative action and racial disparities in the seemingly objective college admissions process. In this activity, students serve as mock admissions committees in small groups. On the basis of activity she...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociology of race and ethnicity (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Calif.), 2019-07, Vol.5 (3), p.432-438
Main Authors: Matthew, Ervin (Maliq), Gast, Melanie Jones, Broscoe, Molly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Admissions policies
College admissions
College students
Decision making
Racial inequality
Students
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Summary:The authors introduce a college admissions simulation activity that facilitates discussions of affirmative action and racial disparities in the seemingly objective college admissions process. In this activity, students serve as mock admissions committees in small groups. On the basis of activity sheets collected from multiple courses across several institutions, the authors disclose quantitative patterns in students’ applicant choices and qualitative themes reflecting students’ decision making processes. The authors discuss how this activity and subsequent class discussion help students to recognize and think through meritocratic assumptions and color-blind practices that reproduce racial inequality.
ISSN:2332-6492
2332-6506
DOI:10.1177/2332649219850198