This study deals with teachers of Ethiopian origin, i.e. second-generation immigrants from Ethiopia or those who were brought to Israel by their parents as young children. The goals of the study are twofold: first, to trace the obstacles they face against the background of racial discrimination and affirmative action, and second, to describe three…

This essay uses a fictional narrative to explore the phenomenon of Pretendians in the contemporary university. Summer, who is one of the protagonists in the fictional dialogue, self-identifies as Indigenous, and is hired as an academic based on this identity, and according to affirmative action policies. Whilst working as an Indigenous academic…

Global scholarly narratives have identified a strong influence of anti-racist, anti-discrimination, and gender equality movements and discourses on affirmative actions in higher education in different national contexts. While empirically valid for various cases, this portrait overlooks affirmative actions' problematic entanglements with other…

In her 2024 State of the State address, New York Governor Kathy Hochul introduced the Top 10% Promise, a policy offering New York students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class direct admission to the State University of New York (SUNY) system. "Access to higher education," she said, "has the potential to transform the…

Despite the emergence of test-optional policies, standardized admission tests continue shaping the college composition and financial aid prospects of hundreds of thousands of students. This is concerning for the following reasons: (a) standardized test results have historically favored test-takers from wealthier and majority backgrounds, (b) test…