Privilege and Disadvantage in Education

This book review explores The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Abraham Jack, which offers a fascinating look at the diverse experiences of low-income students at an elite university.

Do elite colleges matter? The impact on entrepreneurship decisions and career dynamics

Elite college attendance significantly impacts students' entrepreneurship decisions and career dynamics. We find that an elite college degree is positively correlated with entrepreneurship (i.e., owning an incorporated business) but not with other self‐employment forms. Our overlapping generations model captures self‐selection in education and career choices based on heterogeneous ability and family wealth endowments over the life cycle. Our estimates show that (1) entrepreneurs and other self‐employed individuals require different types of human capital, and (2) elite colleges generate considerably more human capital gain than ordinary colleges, particularly for entrepreneurs. Distinguishing between elite and ordinary colleges improves our prediction of entrepreneurship decisions. Providing subsidies for elite colleges is more efficient than subsidizing their ordinary counterparts to encourage entrepreneurship, enhance intergenerational mobility, and enhance welfare. In contrast, although start‐up subsidy increases entrepreneurship, it does not improve their performance, and it is inferior to education subsidy in generating efficiency, equality, and intergenerational mobility.

Affirmative Action in Medical School: A Comparative Exploration

A significant body of evidence shows that law schools and many elite colleges use large admissions preferences based on race, and other evidence strongly suggests that large preferences can undermine student achievement in law school and undergraduate science majors, thus producing highly counterproductive effects. This article draws on available evidence to examine the use of racial preferences in medical school admissions, and finds strong reasons for concern about the effects and effectiveness of current affirmative action efforts. The author calls for better data and careful investigation of several identified patterns.

Eine Top-Uni für eine Top-Karriere: Wer profitiert?

ZusammenfassungDas Renommee der Eliteuniversitäten ist enorm. Ihre Alumni schaffen es in die Top 1 % der Einkommen und dominieren das Who is Who in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Doch wer profitiert von der Eliteausbildung? Ist Talent entscheidend, oder die Abstammung von einem einflussreichen Elternhaus? Fördern die Eliteuniversitäten die Chancengleichheit und den sozialen Aufstieg, oder tragen sie gar zur Zementierung der Ungleichheit bei? Es scheint, dass die Bedeutung von Beziehungen für die Karriere nicht in allen Studiengängen gleich wichtig ist. Der Erfolg einer Management-Karriere hängt scheinbar mehr von Beziehungen ab als in anderen Studienrichtungen. Die Pflege des Beziehungsnetzes profitiert von einem vorteilhaften sozialen Hintergrund und geht von ganz alleine. Umso grösser ist die Herausforderung der Politik, diesen Vorteil zu kompensieren und auf Chancengleichheit hinzuwirken, und der Eliteuniversitäten, ihr Beziehungsnetzwerk allen zu öffnen.Zimmerman, Setz D. (2019), Elite Colleges and Upward Mobility to Top Jobs and Top Incomes, American Economic Review 109, 1–47.