Before addressing this question, we must first examine the current state of affirmative action. The current affirmative action policies, specifically at Universities, give underrepresented populations a "fastpass" to acceptance even at the most selective institutions. This fastpass is given by lowering the test score standards for acceptance and considering the applications of "diverse" candidates more than once. According to the Atlantic, "At the University of Texas [...] the typical black student receiving a race preference [is] placed at the 52nd percentile of the SAT; the typical white was at 89th percentile.
No:
According to the Atlantic, affirmative action leads to several drawbacks most specifically a mismatch between the student and the school. This is what's known as Mismatch Theory. I although being white have experienced something similar to mismatch. When I started high school in the 9th grade I was put in a class called "Algebra II Honors - Math Team." I got a D on the first exam. I got a D on the second exam. I soon realized I was the worst student in the class. The material was being taught at a pace I couldn't comprehend. I had no idea what the teacher was talking about and I would daydream in class because of it - breeding even worse performance on the next exam. My poor performance in this class made me think I should switch out of the class. With the help of my guidance counselor I was able to switch to the less advanced: Algebra II Honors. In this class I was now at the top. "The exams were handed out in order of grade, mine was always one of the first three. I knew everything the teacher was saying, I was confident to answer questions, I felt unstoppable. This is the idea of mismatch theory. When your abilities don't match the abilities of the average student - performance goes down.
Students who are given racial preference are often accepted and attend universities where their test scores, a measure of ability, don't match up with the average student. These good-intentioned policies can and often do lead to poor outcomes for those "benefiting" from affirmative action policies. And statistics defend this statement.
- "Black college freshmen are more likely to aspire to science or engineering careers than are white freshmen, but mismatch causes blacks to abandon these fields at twice the rate of whites(the Atlantic)."
- "Blacks who start college interested in pursuing a doctorate and an academic career are twice as likely to be derailed from this path if they attend a school where they are mismatched (Increasing Faculty Diversity: The Occupational Choices of High-Achieving Minority Students)."
- "Just over 50 percent of the black [college students] surveyed had grades that were in the lowest 20 percent (The James G. Martin Center)."
Is it worth it?
This answer to this question becomes easier to find with the following framing questions:
Do some minority students succeed with affirmative action programs? Yes
Are some minority students harmed by affirmative action programs? Yes
This is what happened with the Proposition 209 in California. Proposition 209, instituted in 1997, ended all policies of affirmative action involved in university admissions. The immediate effects of Proposition 209 were that at UCLA, for example, black and Hispanic freshman enrollment dropped by 50% and 25% respectively. But the long term effects, 4 years down the road - blacks and Hispanics were still graduating at the same rate pre-prop 209. More qualified black and Hispanic students accepted offers of admission from UCLA in the years following prop 209. The drop-out rate declined for minority student post-prop 209 (the Atlantic).
No. The current form of affirmative action is not worth it. It puts minorities in schools where it is harder for them to succeed and it doesn't effect the bottom line: graduation rates. The question now is how can it be fixed? That question will hopefully be answered in the next blog - the final blog.
