California’s long-standing affirmative action ban hints at what’s to come
Alternative race-neutral polices have fallen far short in encouraging diversity, research shows
![A photo of an outdoor space with tables with a few university students sitting at some of the tables.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/070323_sg_affirmative-action_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
California banned affirmative action in the late 1990s. Public universities such as the University of California, Irvine (pictured) introduced race-neutral alternatives to try to maintain student diversity. Those efforts largely fell short.
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