Testing Your Diversity Knowledge

Black Issues in Higher Education, Nov 11, 1999

The following test was developed by Fred L. Pincus, as associate professor of sociology at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and author of the Test of Affirmative Action Knowledge and the co-editor of Race and Ethnic Conflict: Contending Views of Prejudice, Discrimination and Ethnoviolence.

QUESTIONS:

1 It is well known that children from families in the upper income quartile (the richest 25 percent) are more likely to attend and graduate from college than children from the lowest quartile (the poorest 25 percent). According to recent data, young people from the upper income families were

A) Three times more likely to get a bachelor's degree than those from lower income families.

B) Almost 14 times more likely to get a bachelor's degree than those from lower income families.

C) More than 20 times more likely to get a bachelor's degree than those from lower income families.

D) None of the above.

2 It is well known that Whites are much more likely to attend and graduate from college than are Blacks and Hispanics. In 1997, White young adults were

A) Twice as likely to have a bachelor's degree than comparable Blacks.

B) Almost three times as likely to have a bachelor's degree than comparable Hispanics.

C) Both of the above.

D) None of the above.

3 If one compares the college graduation rates of males and females since the 1940s, female graduation rates have

A) Increased but are still lower than males.

B) Increased and have surpassed that of males.

C) Have stayed about the same.

D) Have fluctuated erratically.

4 Of all students who enter two-year colleges

A) More than half transfer to a four-year institution.

B) The percentage of students who transfer has increased dramatically between 1980 and the late 1990s.

C) Less than one-quarter receive any type of degree or certificate from a two-year or a four-year institution.

D) All of the above.

5 According to data from the late 1990s

A) Men earn more bachelor's degrees than women in all racial groups.

B) Blacks and Hispanics make up about 20 percent of the population but earn only 12 percent of all bachelor's degrees.

C) Although Black colleges account for 15 percent of all Black enrollment, they award only 10 percent of all bachelor's degrees going to Blacks.

D) The percentage of Asians with bachelor's degrees is slightly lower than the percentage of Whites with bachelor's degrees.

6 During the 1995-96 academic year

A) Whites earned about half of the law and medical degrees.

B) Males earned less than half of the law and medical degrees.

C) Hispanics and Blacks, combined, earned less than 5 percent of law and medical degrees.

D) Asians earned 6 percent of law degrees and 15 percent of medical degrees.

7 The term `ethnoviolence' is defined as an act, motivated by prejudice, that is intended to do physical or psychological harm to someone because of their group membership. The more than two dozen systematic studies on campus ethnoviolence have shown that

A) People of color and Whites have similar rates of victimization.

B) The victimization rate for minority students is very similar from campus to campus.

C) Most students report their victimization to campus authorities.

D) Most ethnoviolent acts involve verbal rather than physical harassment.

8 The first Black studies programs opened in the late 1960s. By the late 1990s

A) There were more Black studies programs than at any time in American history.

B) More than half of all four-year colleges and universities offer a major in Black studies

C) Black studies is one of the largest majors for Black students.

D) None of the above.

9 The first women's studies program opened in 1969. By the late 1990s

A) The number of women's studies programs has increased to more than 700.

B) More than one-third of all four-year colleges and universities offer a major in women's studies.

C) Most women's studies faculty members have full-time appointments in the women's studies department.

D) All of the above.

10 Using 1995 data

A) Women made up more than one-third of all faculty in 1995.

B) White males made up less than half of all faculty in 1995.

C) The percentage of Black faculty doubled between 1980 and 1995.

D) All of the above.

DIVERSITY TEST

ANSWER KEY:

1 B -- Postsecondary Education Opportunity (Sept. 1998) separates 18-24 year-olds by family income quartiles. In 1996, the chances of an upper-income student receiving a bachelor's degree by age 24 was 74 percent. The chances of a lower income student getting a bachelor's degree was only 5.4 percent. This means that the upper income student is almost 14 times more likely to get a bachelor's degree than the lower income student.

2 C -- Postsecondary Education Opportunity (June 1998) provides data for the percentage of 25-29 year-olds with bachelor's degrees. In 1997, 29 percent of Whites, 14.4 percent of Blacks and 10 percent of Hispanics had bachelor's degrees. That puts the White/Black ratio at slightly more than 2-to-1 and the White/Hispanic ratio at slightly less than 3-to-1. Unfortunately, data for Asian and Native Americans was not discussed.