<p>Do Universities Need Quotas?
Many groups are underrepresented at schools, and Brazil's trying to do something about it.</p>
<p>In one of the latest developments in a long-standing debate over affirmative action, some countries are considering adopting educational quotas at universities. In India, for example, a proposed law would reserve 50% of places in both public and private universities for students from minority groups. That's a huge number, when you consider that significantly less than 50% of the population in India is a member of a minority group.</p>
<p>Here in Brazil, universities are also considering whether to reserve half of university slots for non-white students. That is an enormous number, when you consider that white students make up the vast majority of Brazilian students who pass the qualifying exam to enroll in university. Reserving 50% of spots for students on the grounds of race would force school officials to turn away white students who passed the entrance exam and to accept instead non-white students who didn't pass it.</p>
<p>Critics of the plan have also said schools would experience a higher dropout rate, because students with limited resources might not be able to afford books or even bus fare to the campus, not to mention private university tuition fees.</p>
<p>There are many signs that non-white students are struggling in the current system. According to a 2000 government census, white Brazilians receive an average of two extra years of schooling relative to Brazilians who self-identify as black or Indian. Non-white students are several times more likely to be illiterate than whites. Unipalmares, a university in Sao Paulo dedicated to helping black Brazilians succeed in school, estimates that blacks make up only two percent of students in the country's universities. Yet approximately six percent of Brazilians are black, and another 40% say they are of mixed race...."</p>
<p>Sorry, but due to how this was sent to me, I don't have the link for it, but I'm sure you can easily find it through Google.</p>
<p>The problem they seek to address in India is that for years there have been places at the public universities for Dalits (untouchables), adivasis ("forest-dwellers"), and other minorities, but the only ones getting those places are from what they call in India "the creamy layer" - the sons and daughters of those few from those groups who have already made it in Indian society. Since the vast bulk of minorities are poor, they cannot buy places at the private colleges and universities as their upper class counterparts can. And, unlike tens of thousands of upper class/caste Indians, they can't access education abroad. And, finally, most of them are rural, where preparation, on the whole, is poorer. So they are quadruply disadvantaged.</p>
<p>My understanding is that India already has really extensive affirmative action, both in education and in government employment, for people from the Dalit castes (so-called "untouchables") and other historically oppressed castes. I don't know whether India does anything for the various indigenous tribes that live there, but I think they may be part of the system, too. I know there has been a lot of controversy recently about expanding the number of slots allocated to Dalits, etc., in higher education.</p>
<p>EDIT: obviously cross-posted with mini's more informed post.</p>
<p>My understanding from co-workers is that the set-asides for untouchables is one of the things driving the creation of private universities in India. Everyone prefers the state schools but there just aren't enough seats to meet demand. Entrance is also brutally high-stakes test driven. If you happen to be disck the day of the national entrance exam you are SOL. I've also heard that hazing is a major feature of even professional schools.</p>
<p>The situation in India is very complex. Dalits (labeled as scheduled castes and tribes by the government of India) have had reservation in govt run institutions from day 1 of modern independent India (1950)--the constitution was written by a Dalit intellectual Dr. Ambedkar, a Columbia alum. Unfortunately, despite over 60 years of reservation, the Dalits continue to languish behind and the new reservation scheme that is mentioned in OP is not for URM but for middle castes, higher in traditional heirarchy than Dalits but lower than those who were considered "upper-castes" or forward castes. The problem is this includes a large section of India many of whom are very wealthy and socially privileged and are backward only in name. Adding to the complexity there has been no survey on caste since the one conducted by the British in 1930s because the country has been aiming for casteless society, so we don't have any true numbers, only estimates and extrapolations, so many castes who are economically advanced continue to claim reservation benefits while their poorer counterparts get left behind (the creamy layer phenomena mentioned in the previous post). Also, this reservation has been in place since 1990s but the government is now extending it to include a few purely meritocratic institutions such as IIT (which many believe will dilute the quality). Personally, I don't believe it will dilute the quality and IITs might become more representative of India, but in all this clamor for reservation for middle castes the truly socially and economically backwards students of rural India will be left behind though many NGOs and socially conscious organizations and individuals are attempting to bring education to these areas. But in a country as large as India these efforts are drops in the ocean. If anyone wants to know more please email me privately.</p>
<p>"My understanding from co-workers is that the set-asides for untouchables is one of the things driving the creation of private universities in India."</p>
<p>It's not the "set-asides" per se, but the very large number of applicants seeking admission to a small number of places, to which having set-asides simply increases the pressure.</p>
<p>The creation of private universities is generated for the most part by the pursuit of profit. These are not non-profit institutions like American privates; more like the University of Phoenix, though some (fewer) are residential. On the whole, though, in a capitalist market, if the set-asides help generate the creation of more (and better quality) private institutions, then they are pretty unequivocally a good thing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Tokenadult. From the posted review, it seems that Sowell does not consider China. Am I right? The PRC has a system of preferences. An academic I know who is half-Han half-minority debated whether to make use of her minority status. This would allow her to be admitted into Beida while scoring lower than Han Chinese. In the end, she scored high enough not to need the extra boost provided by her minority status.</p>
<p>Someone from Vietnam once described to me the preference system there. I don't know if it's still in place in its original form, but it was in the 1990s. I believe some elements of it survive, providing affirmative action for certain groups of people It is so complex I can't remember the details. But on a scale of 20, someone from Hanoi and without hook would need to score 19; someone from the provinces and without hook would need to score 17. Hooks included being the child of a revolutionary martyr (someone who had died fighting the French or the Americans) or the child of a member of the Communist Party. Someone from a couple of provinces needed a lower score. Someone from specific minorities still lower scores and someone from either Cambodia or Laos sitll lower score.<br>
The lowest score required was actually 3 or 4, so this person claimed, as opposed to 19 for someone from Hanoi. </p>
<p>Let's not forget either that the sons and daughters of so-called enemies of the people (landlords and such) in the PRC and Vietnam were discriminated against when it came to higher education.</p>
<p>I don't recall what was mentioned in that book about China. He may have a newer book that covers some of the same policy issues, with newer international examples. He points out that sometimes MAJORITY ethnic groups write themselves preferential policies, and gives former and current examples.</p>