Critiquing the Mismatch Hypothesis

• In Event: 18.011 - Race on Campus: Debunking Myths With Data

Abstract

Much of the pushback against affirmative action and diversity related policies is rooted in a sense that underrepresented minority students are not as smart, talented, and deserving as White and Asian students that would be admitted to undergraduate programs “on the merits,” or if criteria were based solely on grades and standardized test scores. These ideas have coalesced into the “mismatch hypothesis,” which suggests affirmative action policies are harming underrepresented students by placing them in schools that exceed their academic abilities; they would be better served in a less rigorous environment where they would be more likely to succeed (Sander & Taylor, 2012).

To counteract the mismatch hypothesis, “Race on Campus: Debunking Myths with Data” highlights the importance of not blaming students, focusing instead on changing institutions and fostering more inclusive environments in which all can thrive. [Name omitted] will discuss how her work with the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) and Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) leverages these ideas. In both initiatives, institutional leaders, administrators, and faculty are challenged to use institutional data and extant research to better understand how and why academic environments can be hostile for people of color, pushing high potential and talented scientists out of training programs and off the pathway through successful faculty careers. [Name omitted] will also explain how her research and efforts to effect change and promote graduate and faculty diversity and inclusion challenge the tenants of the mismatch hypothesis. Specifically, she will leverage her work documenting the career aspirations and training experiences of a diverse group of biosciences doctorate completers and the work of administrators who aim to promote diversity in graduate education to demonstrate how faculty perceptions of URM students’ skills and aptitude present challenges in graduate admissions and students’ training experiences.

Finally, consistent with the themes of “Race on Campus” and its attention to cognitive processes, [name omitted] will also discuss the challenges of working with faculty and institutional leaders that endorse the mismatch hypothesis, or have a more general (and perhaps unconscious) belief that Blacks, Latinxs, and Native Americans are less qualified and able scholars. [name omitted] will discuss the challenges of presenting education research to these audiences, and translating findings into practice that challenge extant cultural norms of the academy.

Author

• Kimberly Griffin, University of Maryland