If you don’t read another book about higher education this year,
you must read William G. Bowen’s and Derek Bok’s The Shape of the
River: Long Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and
University Admissions (Princeton University Press, 1998).
Elegantly written, thoughtful, and based on a thorough analysis of
detailed longitudinal data, the book examines the effects of using race
as one of many factors in college admissions. The book analyzes the
achievement and experiences of students at a set of academically select
college and universities who were in the classes of 1976 and 1989. It
examines their academic and employment experiences, civic
contributions, personal lives, and perspectives on college.
Written by two former college presidents (Bok is the immediate
past-president of Harvard University, and Bowen was president of
Princeton University), the book takes a tone that is extremely
deliberate. When Bowen and Bok discuss the meaning of “merit” in the
closing chapter, their years of experience in higher education are
never more clear. As thought-provoking as they are thoughtful, the
authors manage to shed light on a subject that has, to date, generated
far too much heat.
“The image of the river is … central to the story of our book,
which is concerned with the flow of talent,” write Bowen and Bok in
their preface.
The river is certainly an appropriate metaphor to facilitate an
exploration of the college admissions process and an analysis of race
in the process. Quantitative analysis dominates the book, but the
metaphor of river, which is constantly referred to, gives the book
energy and “soul.”
The authors’ vested interest in developing a more multicultural
society as well as a diverse campus, is evident in the “river”
metaphor, as well. In their concluding paragraphs, they return to their
the river, ending, “We are headed downstream, even though there may be
still miles to go before the river empties, finally, into the sea.”
According to Bowen and Bok, society is better off for having
considered race as a factor for admission at academically selective
colleges and universities. Those African Americans who graduated —
nearly 75 percent of those admitted to these schools — went on to make
significant contributions to society. By heading civic organizations,
earning high incomes, and working in the corporate sector, these Black
graduates, in some ways, make a more positive contribution to society
than their White counterparts.
