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59 Ohio St. L.J. 733 (1998)
Diversity Effects on Student Outcomes: Social Science Evidence

handle is hein.journals/ohslj59 and id is 749 raw text is: Diversity Effects on Student Outcomes: Social Science Evidence MAUREEN T. HALLINAN* This Article examines the findings of social science research relative to the impact of diversity on student learning and various other social outcomes. The author outlines a conceptual model that identifies ability, effort, and opportunity as the primary determinants of learning. Research findings are related to the model to show how diversity creates social processes that affect student outcomes. Empirical studies of desegregation at the elementary and secondary school levels show benefits of desegregation for the academic achievement of minority students attending predominantly white schools. Similarly, the racial attitudes and sociability of minority and majority students improve in desegregated schools. At the collegiate level, studies reveal advantages of racial and ethnic diversity in terms of specific kinds of learning. Students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds gain a better understanding of race and ethnicity, which teaches them to respect cultural differences in a multicultural environment. Institutional support for diversity is critical to insuring that minority students benefit from diversity. I. INTRODUCTION The goals of affirmative action are threefold. First, affirmative action policies aim to compensate minority groups and women for past discrimination. Second, affirmative action aims to counter present discrimination. Third, affirmative action endeavors to create multicultural institutions. Tierney refers to these three goals as compensation, correction, and diversification.1 Affirmative action policies achieve their goals by widening the pool of candidates considered for admission to academic institutions and for employment. Affirmative action policies and practices are highly controversial. This is not surprising because affirmative action has legal, philosophical, political, social, and ethical dimensions, all of which can be considered and argued.2 Proponents of * White Chair of Sociology, University of Notre Dame. Maureen T. Hallinan earned her B.A. at Marynount College, her M.S. at University of Notre Dame, and her Ph.D. at University of Chicago. This Article was prepared for presentation at the Symposium, Twenty Years After Bakke: The Law and Social Science of Affirmative Action in Higher Education, The Ohio State University College of Law, April 3-4, 1998. The author is grateful for the support from the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame. She expresses appreciation to Vladimir Khmelkov, Warren Kubitschek, Amy Orr, Kathiyn Schiller, Xiao-qing Wang, and Jessica Ziembrowski for assistance with review. 1 See William G. Tiemey, The Parameters of Affimative Action: Equity and Excellence in the Academy, 67 REv. OF EDuC. REs. 165-170 (1997). 2 See NATHAN GLAZER, AFI~mnmAvE DIsCRIMINATION: ETNic INEQUALrry and PuBLIc

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