Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, known for The Tipping Point, has released a follow-up titled Revenge of the Tipping Point. During an interview with The Guardian, he criticised Harvard's admissions practices, specifically highlighting a "bias towards affluent whistle students," as reported by The Times of India.
Gladwell compares Harvard's admissions approach with that of merit-based institutions like Caltech (California Institute of Technology). He suggests, "My suspicion is that for many people it's unconscious, but there must be a point at which (Harvard admissions tutors) are confronting the fact that they have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure that their campus hasn't become dominated by Asians and Indians."
In the book, Gladwell illustrates this disparity by pointing out that Caltech, with its merit-driven system, saw Asian American enrollment grow from 25% to 43% between 1992 and 2013.
Meanwhile, at Harvard, where admissions are shaped by factors like legacy preferences and donor contributions, the percentage of Asian American students has remained between 15-20% during the same period. Indian applicants, Gladwell asserts, are even more likely to face exclusion at Harvard.
Gladwell emphasises, "Meritocracy is one of the most beautiful inventions of the 20th century — it is a foundation of a free society."
