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Conceptualizing Racial Segregation in Higher Education: Examining Within- and Between-Sector Trends in California Public Higher Education, 1994-2014

Conceptualizing and measuring levels of segregation in higher education is difficult as both vertical and horizontal sorting is prevalent and patterns vary across racial groups. In this paper, we measure various trends in racial segregation in California for 20 years. We find that the most selective four-year campuses are the least segregated and that the community college sector is the most segregated. This fact has remained relatively stable over time. We also find that observed levels of Latinx-White segregation are lower than the hypothetical levels we would see if college choice were determined exclusively by geography. However, observed Asian-White segregation is higher than it would be if college attendance were determined exclusively by geography.

Keywords
higher education, segregation, historical trends, descriptive studies
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/e5sb-0f03

EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:

Baker, Rachel, Sabrina Solanki, and Connie Kang. (). Conceptualizing Racial Segregation in Higher Education: Examining Within- and Between-Sector Trends in California Public Higher Education, 1994-2014. (EdWorkingPaper: 19-134). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/e5sb-0f03

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