The challenge
Racial separation in social life, even on diverse college campuses.
The case
The US Air Force Academy places each incoming cadet into a squadron with whom they live, eat and train for the whole freshman year, then reshuffles squadrons for the second year. Because assignment is random, economists Scott Carrell, Mark Hoekstra and James West could test whether contact changed behavior, using several graduating classes from the 2000s. For every additional Black peer in their freshman squadron, white male cadets were about 30% more likely to have a Black roommate the next year, chosen from cadets they had not met before. The effect came only from Black peers of middle or high academic ability; contact with peers from the bottom third had no effect either way.
Why it worked
Sustained, cooperative, equal-status contact changes real choices, not just survey answers, but the kind of contact matters as well as the amount.
Sources
- Carrell, S., Hoekstra, M. & West, J. (2019). The Impact of College Diversity on Behavior toward Minorities. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.
- American Economic Association (2019). Embracing our differences: research highlight.
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