Race and Ethnicity Without Diversity

Dear Colleagues,

In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court upheld the pursuit of diversity in higher education and the consideration of race in making admissions decisions. Even as it supported diversity, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s majority decision forecasted “that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the [diversity] interest approved today” (Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003, p. 2347). Justice O’Connor’s appears to be partially correct as it took less than 25 years for the Supreme Court to rescind its support for race-conscious admissions policies (Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College [SFFA, Inc.], 2023). Concurrent with SFFA, Inc.’s (2023) movement through the U.S. courts, many states considered and enacted legislation that eliminated diversity efforts on college campuses related to support programs, personnel assignments, and scholarships (Bryant & Appleby, 2025). Within the global context, varying concerns related to immigration, economics, institutional reputation, and individual outcomes limit both the opportunities for and effectiveness of initiatives designated to reduce racism, discrimination, and social impediments to higher education access and support (Borkowska & Laurence, 2024; Bryant & Appleby, 2025; Burrell, 2024; Détourbe & Goastellec, 2018; Jenkins, 2024; Warikoo, 2018). Yet, even as some actors pushback against race-conscious policies, students from lower castes and racial minority groups still struggle to attend, afford, persist with, and access the benefits associated with a college education (Burrell, 2024; Détourbe & Goastellec, 2018; Jenkins, 2024; Marcus, 2018; Warikoo, 2018).

This Special Issue examines the ways that higher education interprets and responds to race and ethnicity. Possible topics may include (but are not limited to) analysis of institutional policies and initiatives; reactions and responses to shifts in the political, economic, and social climate on and around campus; and the influence that race and ethnicity has on the admissions, attendance, completion, employment, and any other interactions people have with higher education. Within this broad umbrella, this Special Issue seeks to highlight varying perspectives on race and ethnicity in higher education as individuals, institutions, and other stakeholders navigate these conflicting landscapes.

We encourage and look forward to receiving submissions from both new and established voices. Please submit abstracts that outline your topic, approach, connection to the umbrella topic, and the anticipated contributions of your piece in two pages or less to the Special Issue Guest Editor, Saran Donahoo (drdonahoo@gmail.com). Abstracts are due no later than 1 May 2025. Authors will receive notification of acceptance by 1 June 2025. Papers accepted for submission are due by 15 October 2025.

References

Borkowska, Magda, and James Laurence. 2024. The role of ethnic diversity and residential segregation in shaping anti-immigrant sentiment and support for Brexit. Political Studies 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217241261748

Bryant, Jessica, and Chloe Appleby. 2025. These states’ anti-dei legislation may impact higher education. BestCollegs.com. https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/anti-dei-legislation-tracker/ (accessed on 27January 2025).

Burrell, Darrell Norman. 2024. Exploring the nature of diversity dishonesty within predominantly White schools of medicine, pharmacy, and public health at the most highly selective and highly ranked U.S. universities. Social Sciences, 13(7), 332. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13070332

Détourbe, Marie-Agnès, and Gaële Goastellec 2018. Revisiting the issues of access to higher education and social stratification through the case of refugees: A comparative study of spaces of opportunity for refugee students in Germany and England. Social Sciences, 7(10), 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7100186

Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 982. 2003.

Jenkins, Laura Dudley. 2024. Can affirmative action survive on the world’s campuses? Current History, 33-6. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2024.123.849.33

Marcus, Jon. 2018. Facts about race and college admission. The Hechinger Report.

https://hechingerreport.org/facts-about-race-and-college-admission/ (accessed on 27January 2025).

Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181. 2023.

Warikoo, Natasha. 2018. What meritocracy means to its winners: Admissions, race, and inequality at elite universities in the United States and Britain. Social Sciences, 7(8), 131. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080131

Prof. Dr. Saran Donahoo
Dr. Denise O’Neil Green
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• race
• ethnicity
• higher education
• diversity in higher education