Description:

"Milestones as Merit: Selecting the Elite in Early Childhood Independent School Admissions"

by Lauren Rivera, Peter G. Peterson Professor of Corporate Ethics, Professor of Management & Organizations and of Sociology (by courtesy), and IPR Associate.

Abstract:

Elite schools serve as sites of elite reproduction. Throughout their histories, elite schools have selected students in ways that reproduce advantages for dominant groups and exclude groups deemed undesirable. While the specific outgroup in question has changed over time, the underlying logic that has been used to exclude these groups has often been related to disability. Yet, disability as a social category has received minimal attention in discussions of elite reproduction. In this talk, Rivera will draw on qualitative data collected from elite independent preK-12 schools to show that disability is indeed a salient basis of selection into elite educational environments, one that begins at the earliest moments of educational sorting: admission to elite early childhood programs. Through interviews with admissions personnel, the researchers show that elite independent schools explicitly structured their admissions processes to identify—and exclude—children who were perceived as having or being at risk of developing any type of disability, regardless of impairment type or support needs. The authors document the evaluative scripts personnel deploy to justify their decisions, and argue that admissions practices at elite independent schools serve as a form of social closure based on disability status, intended to restrict enrollment to young children perceived as able-bodied and neurotypical.

This event is part of the Fay Lomax Cook Fall 2024 Colloquium Series, where our researchers from around the University share their latest policy-relevant research.

Please note all colloquia this quarter will be held in-person only.