How it plays an integral part in college admissions applications.
By: Sabrine Said
Affirmative action is a set of policies that favors individuals who are considered disadvantaged and face discrimination. In an educational setting, affirmative action is used to give minority or marginalized groups opportunities for proper education. The lack of Affirmative Action in educational settings is a form of discrimination. In this process, colleges take note of an applicant’s race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and disabilities when evaluating the student in the context of their circumstances. They do this to fine-pick students, not based on their achievements but on their demographics. Discriminatory school boards do this to keep the white population as the educated majority. Affirmative action has played a major role in the college process and its ban has a significant impact on the ability of minorities to succeed in the higher education application process.
In 1961, in reply to the civil rights movement, John F. Kennedy created a Committee on Equal Employment, and issued ideals affirmative action through an Executive Order. Discrimination in education was highly targeted in civil rights movements because having a good education was an essential path to prestigious job opportunities. Many marginalized groups gained the ability to become more involved in a wide range of job prospects because of affirmative action. Unfortunately, after 63 years, the ban was implemented by the Supreme Court following a lengthy debate centered around Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The main groups that would be affected by the ban are people who are black, latinx, or indigenous. It is sad to see the many disadvantaged groups that were relying on the help of affirmative action who face discrimination when they should have the legal system backing them up.
Within prestigious colleges, affirmative action plays a role in giving opportunities for minority students to thrive in the application process. The amount of black students in colleges is pretty low. For example, the average percentage of colored students per graduating class at Harvard is usually 9%. In addition, the average percentage of black students in Ivy colleges like Cornell, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale, is roughly 8-10%. With demographics as low as 4% and as high as 9% for this range, it is obvious that the absence of Affirmative Action has played a significant role in influencing the student body in these institutions. The ban on affirmative action will affect the minority demographics at these elite institutions and have more systemic impacts on inequality between different races.
Affirmative Action is not only present in universities, but it is also a part of work settings. In many application processes, those who are white are sometimes accepted over someone who is black, even though the person who is black may have more achievements. For example, a study found that candidates with “white sounding names” were 50% more likely to receive a callback for a job when evaluated next to a black candidate with the same job profile. These biases are rooted in stereotypes created about black people which has a significant impact on their ability to be hired. This is where Affirmative action comes in, where the groups who are at a disadvantage are provided opportunities, though traces of discrimination are still there. Employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin alone is prohibited in work settings. This law guarantees people’s safety from discrimination when applying to a job, school, club, ect. Affirmative Action was the gateway to establishing equal opportunities, and it is disheartening that it has been banned from college applications. Communities should push for the return of affirmative action and bring back the chances to have a united and equal society.
Leave a Reply