This book examines the impact of affirmative action on higher education hiring practices. Using data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the book summarizes, tracks, and evaluates changes in the gender and ethnic makeup of academic and nonacademic employees at private and public colleges and universities from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s. The nine chapters include: (1) "A History of Affirmative Action"; (2) "Inequality and Bureaucratic Representation in Government Employment"; (3) "Blacks in Higher Education Employment"; (4) "White Women in Higher Education Employment"; (5) "Hispanics in Higher Education Employment"; (6) "Asians and Native Americans in Higher Education Employment"; (7) "Minority and Female Doctorates"; (8) "The Political and Socioeconomic Determinants of Higher Education Employment"; and (9) "Summary and Conclusions." Results indicate that white males still dominate faculty and administrative positions in higher education, but their grip has loosened, and this trend will continue (as will the same trend in the professional nonfaculty category). White women have made greater gains than minority men or minority women. (Contains approximately 335 endnotes and 48 data tables.) (SM)