What has gone wrong in our universities? And how do we make it right?

When Amy applied to university, she thought she’d be judged purely on her merits. But she never thought that her family background would have as much impact on her future as her grades.

When KiKi arrived at university, she knew she could be the only black woman in her class. But she didn’t know how out of place she would feel, nor how unwelcoming her peers would be.

When Orry graduated from university, he was told he’d probably land a six-figure salary. But he wasn’t told he’d end up barely scraping a living wage, struggling to feed his children.

Drawing on the stories of hundreds of American students, The Years That Matters Most is a revelatory account of a university system in crisis.

Paul Tough, bestselling author of How Children Succeed, exposes a world where small-town colleges go bust, while the most prestigious raise billions every year; where overstretched admissions officers are forced to pick rich candidates over smart ones; where black and working-class students are left to sink or swim on uncaring campuses. Along the way, he uncovers cutting-edge research from the academics leading the way to a new kind of university – one where students succeed not because of their background, but because of the quality of their minds.

The result is a call-to-arms for universities that work for everyone, and a manual for how we can make it happen.

New York Times bestselling author Paul Tough's Whatever It Takes is "one of the best books ever written about how poverty influences learning, and vice versa" (The Washington Post). What would it take? That was the question that Geoffrey Canada found himself asking. What would it take to change the lives of poor children -- not one by one, through heroic interventions and occasional miracles, but in big numbers, and in a way that could be replicated nationwide? The question led him to create the Harlem Children's Zone, a ninety-seven-block laboratory in central Harlem where he is testing new and sometimes controversial ideas about poverty in America. His conclusion: if you want poor kids to be able to compete with their middle-class peers, you need to change everything in their lives -- their schools, their neighborhoods, even the child-rearing practices of their parents. Whatever It Takes is a tour de force of reporting, an inspired portrait not only of Geoffrey Canada but also of the parents and children in Harlem who are struggling to better their lives, often against great odds. Carefully researched and deeply affecting, this is a dispatch from inside the most daring and potentially transformative social experiment of our time.

"Drop the flashcards--grit, character, and curiosity matter even more than cognitive skills. A persuasive wake-up call."--"People"
Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in "How Children Succeed," Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.
"How Children Succeed" introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories--and the stories of the children they are trying to help--Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people's lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do--and do not--prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.
"Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it's a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall."--"New York Times"
"I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids."--"Slate"

Why character, confidence, and curiosity are more important to your child's success than academic results. The New York Times bestseller. For all fans of Oliver James or Steve Biddulph's Raising Boys, Raising Girls, and The Complete Secrets of Happy Children. In a world where academic success can seem all-important in deciding our children's success in adult life, Paul Tough sees things very differently. Instead of fixating on grades and exams, he argues that we, as parents, should be paying more attention to our children's characters. Inner resilience, a sense of curiosity, the hidden power of confidence - these are the most important things we can teach our children, because it is these qualities that will enable them to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives. In this personal, thought-provoking and timely book, Paul Tough offers a clarion call to parents who are seeking to unlock their child's true potential - and ensure they really succeed.

'Indelible and extraordinary, a powerful reckoning with just how far we've allowed reality to drift from our ideals.' Tara Westover, New York Times Book Review We're told that universities are our greatest driver of social mobility. But it's a lie. The Inequality Machine is a damning expose of how the university system ingrains injustice at every level of American society. Paul Tough, bestselling author of How Children Succeed, exposes a world where small-town colleges go bust, while the most prestigious raise billions every year; where overstretched admissions officers are forced to pick rich candidates over smart ones; where black and working-class students are left to sink or swim on uncaring campuses. Along the way, he uncovers cutting-edge research from the academics leading the way to a new kind of university - one where students succeed not because of their background, but because of the quality of their minds. The result is a call-to-arms for universities that work for everyone, and a manual for how we can make it happen. 'Humanizes the process of higher education . . . Fascinating stories about efforts to remediate class disparities in higher education' New Yorker

A NOW READ THIS PBS NewsHour and New York Times Book Review selection From the New York Times best-selling author of How Children Succeed comes an essential handbook of successful strategies to help kids overcome issues, learn, and thrive in today's chaotic learning environments. In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough introduced us to research showing that personal qualities like perseverance, self-control, and conscientiousness play a critical role in children's success. Now, in Helping Children Succeed, Tough takes on a new set of pressing questions: What does growing up with economic and other stresses do to children's mental and physical development? How does adversity at home affect their success in the classroom, from preschool to high school? And what practical steps can the adults who are responsible for them take to improve their chances for a positive future? Tough once again encourages us to think in a new way about the challenges of childhood. Mining the latest research in psychology and neuroscience, he provides us with insights and strategies for a new approach to childhood adversity, one designed to help many more children succeed.