2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Affirmative action policies were originally implemented in the United States to correct disadvantages felt by historically excluded groups [1]. Nine individual U.S. states have since banned affirmative action practices. These bans extend to college admissions, where applicant characteristics such as race and gender can no longer be taken into consideration. Past research on university enrollment in all degree programs has shown a decrease in enrollment of Black students, both overall and at public institutions specifically, associated with state-level affirmative action bans [2]. Because affirmative action policies traditionally have benefitted both white women students [3] as well as men and women students historically excluded due to race (i.e., non-white students), there may be a downstream effect of affirmative action bans on the undergraduate enrollment of these students in engineering schools. However, a comprehensive study of the enrollment of white women and historically excluded students specifically in engineering schools both before and after state-level affirmative action bans have taken place has yet to be undertaken. This study aims to address the following two questions: do affirmative action bans impact the enrollment of women and/or historically excluded students in engineering schools in the U.S.? Is there a difference in how affirmative action bans impact the enrollment of women and/or historically excluded students in engineering schools between private and public institutions?

The study utilized annual survey data on enrollment (by gender and racial categories) from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and information about public/private status from the National Center for Education Statistics. We examined five states with current affirmative action bans for which there was sufficient enrollment data both before and after the ban (2005-2020): Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. We used a mixed effect model to examine percentage enrollment before and after the ban, and the interaction of the ban and public/private institutional control, in multiple student groups by gender and race.

Preliminary results suggest that affirmative action bans may have an impact on the enrollment of women engineering students and that there is likely no difference between private and public institutions. However, further analysis is still needed; specifically, ongoing work includes a power analysis and incorporation of 2021 survey data, which may allow us to include Idaho schools (ban occurred in 2020).

[1] Warikoo, et al., “A solution to multiple problems: the origins of affirmative action in higher education around the world,” Studies in Higher Education, 2020.
[2] J. M. Sullivan, “Affirmative Action Bans: Assessing Impacts in a Cross-State Context,” Utah State University, 2018.
[3] Michele Goodwin, “The Death of Affirmative Action?” Wisconsin Law Review, 2013.