Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio on Affirmative Action

Senior Research Fellow Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio authored an op-ed in the LA Times on how universities should handle diversity and inclusion following the recent Supreme Court decision, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Cecchi-Dimeglio calls for universities to pay more attention to diversity in “the top ranks of faculty.” She writes:

Diverse faculty bodies can provide students with different ways to dream about their own future and remain engaged in school. They help students see how people from different backgrounds can succeed from varied starting points. Once students from ethnic and racial minorities get into a program, the presence of diverse faculty members helps them persist and earn their degrees. This persistence is grounded in what has been called a growth mind-set, and it’s something that a diverse faculty body can help instill. Without students seeing a piece of themselves in the faculty around them, they may not grasp that everyone’s abilities can grow through effort, that they can ask for help and that they can find strategies to overcome challenges.