| This dissertation analyzes the history, process, and outcomes of admission to an institution located at the pinnacle of the higher education hierarchy and recognized as a gateway to the elite. The admissions process at Harvard College is examined in light of broader questions in the sociology of education, political sociology, and social stratification. Changing admissions practices during the course of this century shed light on changes in the ways processes of social closure are enacted. Political mobilization is seen to be a major determinant of changing admissions policies and practices. At the same time, organizational dynamics are seen to be a prime mover in groups' potential to act and in their probability of success. Educational organizations, it is argued, must not be analyzed differently simply because they are swatched in academic robes; various constraints (especially, perhaps, financial) operate upon Harvard much as they would any other organization.;In Chapter Two, the history of admissions during the course of the twentieth century is reviewed. Groups that politically mobilized were rewarded with changes in the system of classification in the Admissions Office. Changes in categories became the concrete means by which group advantages were institutionalized. Chapter Three, an examination of the processes used by the Admissions Office to recruit and select the entering class, describes how these categorical advantages are used in the selection process. Chapter Four, the quantitative heart of the dissertation, analyzes the relationships among social background, categorical advantages, and academic criteria in the determination of probabilities of admission. In addition, differences in the admissions process for different sub-populations are examined. While academic factors are important, interesting interactions between social background, categorical advantages and specific subpopulations were also found. In Chapter Five, a summary and theoretical and policy implications are briefly presented. |
