Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Affirmative Action
I feel about affirmative action the same way that I feel about charity. I am personally inclined to practice it, but I’m suspicious when it becomes corporate or governmental policy. As an institutional protocol, it can (and often does) do more harm than good.
When it puts people into positions they are qualified for, it can correct social imbalances, if such imbalances are the result of discrimination. But when it puts people into positions they are not qualified for, all sorts of problems arise. For the institution. For the other members of the institution. For the people the institution serves. And for the recipient of the affirmative action.
To make affirmative action work for underqualified people, there must be a commitment to provide them with the extra help they need to succeed. In my experience, that means investing in many, many hours of extra training and personal coaching. And even then, the odds are not good.