How to Read the Data

Here is an article in Salon by Nicholas Lemann called "The Test that Took Over" that discusses SAT scores, meritocracy, and affirmative action. The article mentions a book called "The Shape of the River" by William Bowen and Derek Bok where:

...Table 5.1, which compares the average 1995 earned incomes of a group who entered college in 1976. The data are sorted by race, gender, SAT scores and the selectivity of the college attended. You would expect whites to earn more than blacks, and they do. You would expect men to earn more than women, and they do. You would expect graduates of more prestigious colleges to earn more than those of less prestigious colleges, and they do. You would expect people who score high on the SAT to earn more than those who score low.

They don't. As it turns out, the highest wages belong to the white men with the lowest SAT scores at the most prestigious colleges. This is a remarkable statistic.

What I find interesting is not the discussion of minority rights, meritocracy, or questions of what SAT scores measure. For me the data cries out for a fairly simple interpretation. Those with low SAT scores -- say like George Bush -- get into elite colleges and then proceed to have very lucrative careers because they aren't competing based on skills. They get their high paying careers through their elite social connections. They don't have to compete on the basis of skills. They've already won the genetic contest by finding themselves some very well placed parents with big incomes/big wealth and silver-spoon-in-the-mouth connections.

Call me prejudiced, but that is my "reading" of the data.

By the way... the phrase "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" comes about because of the following:

"The earliest spoons were made of wood, the word 'spoon,' in fact, deriving from the Anglo-Saxon 'spon,' 'a chip of wood.' Until the last century most people used pewter spoons, but traditionally, especially among the wealthy, godparents have given the gift of a silver spoon to their godchildren at christening ceremonies. The custom is centuries old throughout Europe." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).