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Crossing the Bridge When They Come to It: Race, Meritocracy, and the Pursuit of Success in College and Beyond

Matthew, Ervin
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343064824

Abstract Details

2012, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
In recent times, research has revealed a dynamic shift in the perception of racial inequality in the contemporary United States, with an increased belief that racial discrimination is a concern of a bygone era (Hunt 2007). When they are acknowledged, enduring racial disparities in life chances are often attributed to differences in marketable skills and upheld by some scholars as evidence of a meritocratic system within which minorities are likely to succeed if they are able to overcome early disadvantages and acquire the requisite training and credentials (Neal and Johnson 1996). In this project, I test the argument that equivalence on measures of academic merit – school performance and standardized exam scores -- is sufficient to assure race-blind success at three stages of the post- high school status attainment process: college entry, college completion, and wage attainment. I discover that blacks and Hispanics progress through the status attainment process at a slower pace than do whites and Asians. Results show that academic merit strongly predicts racial gaps in timing of college enrollment, has less impact on variance in timing of college completion, and is a weak predictor of early-career income disparities. I find evidence that race actually matters more later in the post-high school status attainment process than at earlier points when students are equated on measures of academic success, counter to the assumptions of a meritocracy.
Douglas B. Downey, PhD (Committee Chair)
Randy Hodson, PhD (Committee Member)
Vincent K. Roscigno, PhD (Committee Member)
159 p.
Sociology
race; education; school performance; meritocracy; social stratification; wage inequality; status attainment; life course

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Matthew, E. (2012). Crossing the Bridge When They Come to It: Race, Meritocracy, and the Pursuit of Success in College and Beyond [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343064824

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Matthew, Ervin. Crossing the Bridge When They Come to It: Race, Meritocracy, and the Pursuit of Success in College and Beyond. 2012. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343064824.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Matthew, Ervin. "Crossing the Bridge When They Come to It: Race, Meritocracy, and the Pursuit of Success in College and Beyond." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343064824

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.