The Complexity of Affirmative Action
Although it may seem like a step in the right direction for DEI, affirmative action or “positive discrimination” as it’s sometimes called is not the easy fix many believe it to be. Whether it’s schools or hiring teams practicing this type of selection process, there are better, longer-lasting ways to ensure equal access to opportunity for folks of all identity groups.
My parents taught me the importance of education, and of always seeking to broaden your horizons. They met in Beihang University’s aerospace engineering program, where both earned their bachelor's degrees in 1982. In fact, they were the first class to graduate after the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended, meaning that they both tested into college instead of relying on family or political connections. Both found jobs as engineers, and my dad went on to finish his Master’s at Beihang as well. It was during one of his business trips that he first visited the U.S. and fell in love with this country. He began applying for Ph.D. programs in the U.S. shortly after returning to China and was accepted at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. My parents are the first people in both their families to emigrate outside of China. If it hadn’t been for their diligence, hard work, and dedication to education, we would not be here.
Rather than recognizing and rewarding all their hard work, however, affirmative action may have hindered my family’s progress. Asian students are often viewed as “overrepresented” in higher education and accepted at lower rates compared to underrepresented groups, which trivializes or outright ignores each Asian applicant’s unique story and the obstacles they have overcome. What’s worse, affirmative action can feed into the Model Minority Myth by perpetuating the belief that Asians and Asian Americans are all “successful and well-adjusted”, and thus do not need any DEI initiatives or attention. This viewpoint overlooks all the ways Asian Americans still struggle with bias and prejudice and is harmful to other groups because it encourages people to believe that there is no discrimination in the U.S. and that everyone can achieve the same amount of success if they just “try hard enough.” For these reasons, many Asian American communities (including my parents and quite a few of their friends with similar backgrounds) strongly object to affirmative action.
Supporters of affirmative action may not realize that positive discrimination in favor of underrepresented groups is still discrimination, which could account for why it’s been approved by many working in the DEI space. However, what it often accomplishes is marginalizing one group in favor of another, rather than solving the core problem of making higher education more accessible to all. Furthermore, a quota system can also tokenize and lump all individuals of a certain identity together in order to “hit the numbers” (e.g. “We need 50% of our incoming class to be women”, even though every woman has her own story and experiences). Such broad-stroke practices gloss over every individual’s unique perspective, in effect achieving the opposite of what they are supposed to be striving for.
Another problem with overreliance on affirmative action alone is that students at these colleges and universities may end up struggling with their coursework once they are accepted because their schools don’t provide further resources tailored toward supporting underrepresented students of various backgrounds. They may also discover that they still must deal with biases among their students and professors because the school has not taken the proper steps to fully create an inclusive atmosphere beyond the admissions process.
Rather than trying to “force” diversity, universities and governments could make higher education more accessible to everyone by lowering tuition rates, or even guaranteeing free education like many other countries. In China, schools employ the “quota system” in a different manner—instead of focusing on individual identities such as race and gender, colleges and universities accept a certain number of applicants based on province. This has its own flaws, as many schools preferentially accept more students from wealthier, more urban provinces, but it at least cuts down on direct competition between students of different races.
Domestically, the US can also do a better job overhauling our educational system as a whole, especially for public and inner-city schools, so that all students are better prepared for the college application process. These steps are significantly more involved than affirmative action but actually get at the roots of inequity in the US, which is needed to affect any sort of real, enduring change.
Overall, although the intent behind affirmative action may be to create a more diverse and inclusive society, it fails to address the true seeds of discrimination in this country. Real change requires more intentional work and involvement.
For more perspectives on Affirmative Action over the decades, please consider the following:
Throughline Podcast on the history and future of Affirmative Action
The Sad Irony of Affirmative Action Article from National Affairs
The Case Against Affirmative Action from Stanford Magazine
From Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, consider the chapter on the Model Minority Myth.