Issue: Affirmative Action Group Names TITLE SLIDE

Review of Literature ● Studies in the 1970s found that little more than 20% of Americans favored measures to give preferential treatment to African Americans ● In more recent years, survey results vary widely depending on how questions are worded, and which specific racial groups or issues are mentioned.

2003 Pew Research Center poll showed 63% supporting programs “designed to help blacks, women, and other minorities get better jobs and education.” -versus Quinnipiac poll showed 38% support “affirmative action programs that give preference to blacks and other minorities.” -and- Fewer than 3 in 10 support affirmative action when it references college admission, specifically EXAMPLES:

Hypothesis ● We hypothesized that 67% 0f minority students and only 46% White students at Von Steuben would favor affirmative action because minority students usually are the ones who benefit from affirmative action. ● However, we also thought that White students at this school would still have higher rates of support for affirmative action than statistics for White teenagers nationally because Von is so diverse and they would want to see their friends be successful.

Research and Methodology Overview ● We conducted our survey in Ms. Cantacessi’s freshman division last Wednesday morning. There were 13 males and 15 females in the class, all between 14 and 15 years old. Our key findings were: -Just under half of the respondents favored affirmative action policies generally, but results varied with wording -Minority students (of any race) had slightly higher rates of approval than White students One complicating factor was that many of the freshmen did not know what affirmative action was.

1.Do you support affirmative action policies that help blacks, women, and other minorities receive better jobs and education? 2.Do you support affirmative action policies that give preference to racial minorities in the college selection process? 3.Do you think that the college selection process should be color-blind? 4.Do you think the government has a special obligation to help African Americans? Survey Questions

Support for Affirmative Action Programs by Race: National DataVon Data

Support for Affirmative Action in College Admissions National DataVon Data

Support for Affirmative Action by Gender Nationwide DataVon Data

Question 3: 71% respond “yes” to “color- blind admissions” 100% White 67% Hispanic 80% African American 80% Asian

Government Obligation to Help African Americans? Nationwide DataVon Data YES: 25% White 26% Hispanic 50% African American 25% Asian

Analysis and Conclusions ● Gender made no impact o Both male and female respondents had similar results across survey questions ● Minorities more likely to support Affirmative Action o Hispanic, African American, and Asian students were slightly more likely to oppose color-blind admissions o African American students were more likely to respond ‘yes’ that the government should help African Americans ● Von students had only slightly higher support for affirmative action policies in terms of college admissions (46% vs. 38%) ● Von students’ responses were similar to those from the national survey in terms of the question of a governmental “obligation” (29% vs. 31%)

Further Questions ● If we had done a longer, more informational presentation that went into depth about Affirmative Action beforehand, would the results have been different? ● If we had surveyed juniors or seniors (closer to going to college) would they have been more or less supportive of affirmative action in college decisions? ● How would students across CPS respond? ● How do government policies impact public opinion on issues like Affirmative Action?

Work Cited: backs-affirmative-action-programs-on-campus/ backs-affirmative-action-programs-on-campus/ poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=370 poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=370 Asbury, B D, R D. Kahlenberg, S Alon, J Pierce, and J D. Skrentny. "Affirmative Inaction." Contexts (2013): Print. (You should have the research data & the article you used listed!)