Meritocracy and the University: Selective Admission in England and the United States [Paperback]

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Who gets into elite universities, how and why? What are places like Harvard in the United States or Cambridge in England looking for when they admit undergraduate students? What qualities do selectors value and how do they decide between many applicants with often stellar attainment records? And, are we all better off because of who these elite universities admit?

Meritocracy and the Universityprovides an insight into the world of university admissions. Based on interviews with professional admissions staff and academic faculty members who select students, the book explains what selectors value and how they make decisions. By shining a light on the world of university admissions in England and in the United States, readers are invited to reflect on the similarities and differences in who selects and how selection is done, the purpose and mission of universities, and the challenges universities face in building fair admissions processes when earlier opportunities to shine in education are unequally distributed.

This book investigates university admissions in the UK and USA, with a particular focus on the most selective and elite universities in both countries. It explains the values, processes and practices that judge some individuals as worthy of getting an education at those universities and deny admission to other applicants.Anna Mountford Zimdarsis the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Widening Participation Research and Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, UK. Her work on university admissions has been published in many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and commissioned research reports. Her research has been cited in Parliament as well as receiving coverage in the media including the Sunday Times, BBC Radio 4, and The Guardian.

Chosen as a Summer Read 2016 Tl%