Greg J. Duncan, Johanne Boisjoly,
Dan M. Levy,
Michael Kremer, and Jacque Eccles
Abstract
Mixing across ethnic and class lines could potentially
either spur understanding or inflame tensions between groups.
The authors find that white students at a large state university
who are randomly assigned African-American roommates are more
likely to endorse affirmative action policies one-and-a-half to
three-and-a-half years after entering college. Whites who are
randomly assigned minority roommates are more likely to say they
have more personal contact with and interact more comfortably
with members of minority groups, and they are just as likely to
remain close friends with their roommates beyond their initial
year. Students become less supportive of higher taxes for the
wealthy when they are assigned roommates from high-income backgrounds,
and they appear to be more likely to volunteer when assigned roommates
from low-income families. Taken together, these results suggest
students become more empathetic with the social groups to which
their roommates belong.
Greg J. Duncan, Human Development
and Social Policy and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern
University Johanne Boisjoly, Sociology, University of Quebec
at Rimouski Dan M. Levy, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Michael Kremer, Economics, Harvard University;
The Brookings Institution; and NBER Jacque Eccles, Psychology, University of Michigan
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