10 ms·
> This is the unintended consequence of hiring and promoting based on identity instead of merit. I would argue that the more apt description is: This is the un
by smallgovt 8y ago
> This is the unintended consequence of hiring and promoting based on identity instead of merit.
I would argue that the more apt description is: This is the unintended consequence of hiring and promoting based on aptitude instead of current qualification.
In other words, when you see a 'less-qualified' individual who 'made it due to affirmative action', it may be constructive to remember that they are probably just as 'talented' as their peers, albeit not as 'qualified.
They haven't had the time/resources to capitalize on their god-given talent due to various socio-economic pressures.
In a way, affirmative action is rewarding merit -- it's just a different definition of merit that looks at how much you've excelled in your field in the context of the difficulties you faced along the way.
- afiori 8y ago> In a way, affirmative action is rewarding merit -- it's just a different definition of merit that looks at how much you've excelled in your field in the context of the difficulties you faced along the way. This a good way to put it, but under this light an income-based affirmative action would maybe make more sense. Even better if based on both the income of you family and the Gini coefficient of you district/city/area. (I am not an expert on affirmative action, I never heard of this but I don't know if it is already in place)
- Mirioron 8y agoI don't see how affirmative action makes sense. I can understand spending more resources to catch people up from poor backgrounds, so that they can pass the bar, but I don't see why you would want to lower the bar.
- smallgovt 8y agoOne reason is that, as as society, we've agreed that we value (and want to reward) hard work over god-given talent. So, if there is a prestigious position available, we would rather award it to someone who is slightly less capable but had to work much harder to get where he/she is. This value structure arguably hurts productivity, but it's not inferior in an absolute sense. It all depends on what we value.
- afiori 8y agoI disagree with you motivation, affirmative action purpose is to give a second chance to people who had a bad hand at life: you had a terrible high school? maybe you can still become a fantastic Ph.D. if you got the chance at a better university. It is not about hard work but how exam and unidimensional numbers are a poor way to grade humans when you consider a variety of backgrounds.