Affirmative Action Is Necessary But Not Sufficient.
Affirmative action and the need to think diversity earlier in the pipeline are not mutually exclusive.
A couple of weeks ago, redstate.com analyzed my writing and reached the conclusion that my diversity post illustrates a case of “affirmative action gone bad”. I should be upset about this unsolicited misinformed piece of writing they produced, but instead, I figured it was time to write my own thoughts on affirmative action. Plus, as someone who leans left, what better than getting written up by the right in a negative light?! So, I wear that as a badge…
Also, some of my own friends and colleagues seem to be wondering what I really meant to say about affirmative action given that I made a case against hiring just based on quotas in my post. To make it clear…
Affirmative action is necessary but not sufficient to have more minorities in tech and other areas.
If we did nothing to improve the inflow of qualified candidates, the quotas brought by affirmative action will not contribute to tangible improvement of any kind and may, in fact, have an adverse impact. But, without quotas, those once repressed will continue to be disadvantaged for a long time to come.
I get quotas as well as the white guy on the street.
I am intimately familiar with quotas (aka “reservations”) and what that feels like to the so-called “privileged” class of people. I was among them. India is a pioneer of quotas with its caste system influencing education in a big way, especially college admissions. Hailing from the “forward caste”, I didn’t get any considerations, I got to prove that I can be in the top 1 percentile to make it to the best colleges and I had fewer seats to compete for than anyone else. Compare that with people in the “backward caste” or others who can compete for every seat plus their reserved quotas, where they don’t quite have to meet the same standards to get in.
I missed out on the top schools because I was complacent about my 99% scores in MPC (Math/Physics/Chemistry) only to later on have a lawsuit change the criteria on admissions. I took my entrance exams way too casually as I felt like it was slam dunk that I qualified for the best schools just based on my MPC scores. Only to learn mid process that admissions will discount MPC scores altogether and will solely be based on entrance exams (akin to SAT).
I was furious. I was furious that my best friend, a backward caste member, made it into med school while I did not, even though we had comparable scores. We had planned a college life together and our dream was shattered. I was furious that the system was, in my view, biased. I was furious that students who scored less than me made it just because they qualified against a quota of some kind.
I carried this resentment well into my college years. I desperately wanted to be a doctor and it was a dream stollen from me for no fault of mine.
But then I grew up.
Over the years, I realized that I was wrong. I realized I was, in fact, privileged to be part of the forward caste. My grandparents had had access to everything, while members of other castes in their generations had far far less. Some of these families would have never had access to quality education but for the quotas.
Having been born to two well educated parents, the importance of college was ingrained in me from a very tender age. The question was only about whether I was going to med school or engineering — never about whether I was going to college. In high school, I had nothing else to do except focus on getting the best education I can.
In another family, where parents were relatively less educated and had to work harder to make ends meet, it would be tempting to send kids to work after high school. It would be far easier to undervalue the importance of education. Some of these children would even have to study despite the odd jobs they’d have to do while in high school to help their families have a living.
No doubt, the quotas were sometimes misused. No doubt, there were relatively richer students that got in via the quotas and spent their college lives being rowdy. But, without these quotas, some of my fellow classmates would have never had the opportunity to become engineers.
Affirmative action is necessary.
To focus specifically on affirmative action in the US, I believe it is absolutely essential. Without this, employers would have a free pass to take the easy way out and hire the easiest way possible. Without affirmative action:
It would mean just picking from the dominant pool of candidates, without worrying about diversity of any kind.
It would mean continued injustice to those who have been repressed for centuries.
It would mean continued loss of opportunities to the minorities.
It would mean continued burden for women, people of color and others not as privileged as the average white male to work harder to prove their worth.
Destroying affirmative action would absolutely destroy hopes of bringing equality to our society any time soon.
So, what next?
The thing is, affirmative action alone will not suffice. We must make all efforts to encourage equality of thought and diversity of fields at younger and younger stages of life for everyone, particularly women and minorities.
This was my point about women in tech and encouraging them sooner in life to see tech as a viable career option.
When we can do that effectively, we will improve the diversity of the pipeline, allowing affirmative action to result in highly qualified candidates who will change the way the world views diversity. Sooner than later.
The privileged must understand they’re privileged!
We will not improve as a society until the privileged see that we are, in fact, privileged.
Yes, if you are a white man, you have an advantage over everyone else.
Yes, if you are a white woman, you have an advantage over women of color.
Yes, if you are straight, you have an advantage over gay people.
Yes, if you are tall, you have an advantage over short people.
The privileges that the privileged enjoy have to do with generations of advantages they’ve enjoyed and subliminal biases that continue to dominate the population till date.
Let’s look at this data for example. Across all races, white men enjoy the advantage of being the more desired and sought after dates. Except for black women, women of all other races and color prefer to date white men. Across all races, Asian women enjoy the advantage of being sought after on dates. Except for Asian men, men of all other races and color prefer to date Asian women.
It’s not our fault for being privileged. But it is absolutely essential to know that we are. And empathize for others who aren’t.
Affirmative action is a small step towards that empathy necessary to establish equality. Those who don’t get it must start learning now!
