Jerome Bernard Karabel (born May 20, 1950) is an American sociologist, political and social commentator, and Professor of Sociology at the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
. He has written extensively on American institutions of
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
and on various aspects of social policy and history in the United States, often from a comparative perspective.
Karabel is the author of ''The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton'' (2005), which received the Distinguished Scholarly Book Award from the American Sociological Association. He is also co-author (with Steven Brint) of ''The Diverted Dream: Community Colleges and the Promise of Educational Opportunity in America, 1900-1985'' (1989), which received the Outstanding Book Award from the
American Educational Research Association
The American Educational Research Association (AERA, pronounced "A-E-R-A") is a professional organization representing education researchers in the United States and around the world. AERA's mission is to advance knowledge about education and p ...
. His research in the sociology of education explores notions of meritocracy, opportunity, access, and
cultural capital
In the field of sociology, cultural capital comprises the social assets of a person (education, intellect, style of speech, style of dress, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society. Cultural capital functions as a social relatio ...
in American higher education, and the role of the educational system in legitimating the existing social order.
In ''The Chosen'', Karabel chronicles the admissions policies of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton over the course of the twentieth century, describing how new admissions criteria—including letters of recommendation, athletic and extracurricular achievements, and interviews, in addition to a student’s academic credentials—were first introduced in the 1920s in an effort to limit the number of Jewish students. Such starkly redefined measures of “merit” were institutionalized at these and other elite institutions over time, even as these schools later adapted such admission policies in response to growing demands for greater democratization and diversity during the mid and latter half of the twentieth century.
Karabel’s articles have been published in the ''
American Sociological Review
The ''American Sociological Review'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology. It is published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the American Sociological Association. It was established in 1936. The editors- ...
Social Forces
''Social Forces'' (formerly ''The Journal of Social Forces'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of social science published by Oxford University Press for the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ...
'', and ''Politics and Society'' among others. He is also a contributor to publications such as ''The New York Times'', ''The Huffington Post'', ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', ''The Nation'', ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, and also conducted postgraduate studies at Nuffield College at Oxford University in England and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris, France. He has been a recipient of grants from the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
, the National Institute of Education, and the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
. In 2009-2010, Karabel was a Fellow at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...
in Washington DC, where he was working on a project entitled “American Exceptionalism, Social Well-Being, and the Quality of Life in the United States.”Biography of Jerome Karabel, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=sf.profile&person_id=549661
Selected publications
*''The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2005) (Winner of the 2005
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.