Knowing our rights is the most significant power we can hold as individuals. One such right to be aware of is providing minorities with equal opportunities in the society in the United States of America. Colleges in the USA have to accept a certain number of minorities because of the ‘Affirmative Action’ program under Civil Rights Act, of 1964. let’s see more information about it.
Do Colleges Have Affirmative Action?
Racial discrimination has been a part of American society for a long time. The federal government passed the ‘Affirmative Action’ program, also known as ‘Positive Discrimination,’ to curb such issues. The policy includes a variety of actions aimed at increasing the participation of minorities or marginalized groups in the workforce and education and, as a result, raising their standard of living. It ensured compensating adjustments in the selection procedures for equitable and fair representation of minorities. Colleges have to accept a certain number of minorities under this program to promote diversity and equal opportunity for students.
What is Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action is a set of administrative practices, laws, and policies structured to achieve social equality by providing benefits in employment and education to socio-economically backward people through preferential treatment to ensure that they are given equal opportunity and consideration. It can be comparable to the caste reservation system based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and other factors; however, it is not a quota-based system but an approach to promoting employment and education equality.
This policy aims to ensure that companies and educational institutions adopt affirmative action to avoid discriminatory practices on the basis of race, religion, gender, or other aspects of discrimination when making employment or admission decisions.
Who are Considered Minorities?
A minority is a group of individuals whose beliefs, practices, race, religion, ethnicity, and other traits are less in number than the dominated or majority groups in a particular society. These individuals have been mistreated by humankind throughout history through oppression or slavery.
Affirmative action’s cover people from different races, gender identities, sexual orientations, ethnicity, age, and handicaps, which fall into the category of the minority to benefit from this program.
Viewpoints on Affirmative Action
Some states in the USA, such as California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, and a few more, have banned affirmative action in the college admission process, particularly in public colleges, as private colleges can act upon affirmative action; however, the process is not efficient for public colleges due to the large influx of applications. On the other side of the scale, many other states still consider it a policy giving chances to the less fortunate section of the society.
There have been various controversies over affirmative action allowing marginalized sections admission to colleges. A Pew Research Centre poll in 2019 reveals that the majority of Americans (73%) believe colleges/universities should not consider race or ethnicity while making admission decisions; only 7% think race should play a major role, while 19% believe it is a minor consideration. With many opposing viewpoints, the government, and colleges/universities support affirmative action for various reasons.
- Affirmative action is one of the most effective techniques available to colleges and universities for promoting diversity and ensuring that people who would otherwise be excluded from the American education system get an opportunity to acquire quality degrees.
- It aids in advancing social development through overall growth and development in human capital, the standard of living, and per capita income.
- It helps to bring a balance in the society by reducing the racial wealth gap in the country.
- To achieve the goal of bridging employment and wage disparities, boosting access to education, and redressing the perceived historical wrongs and damages.
Reasons Why Colleges and Universities Support Affirmative Action
- Affirmative action is one of the most effective techniques available to colleges and universities for promoting diversity and ensuring that people who would otherwise be excluded from the American education system get an opportunity to acquire quality degrees.
- It aids in advancing social development through overall growth and development in human capital, the standard of living, and per capita income.
- It helps to bring a balance in the society by reducing the racial wealth gap in the country.
- To achieve the goal of bridging employment and wage disparities, boosting access to education, and redressing the perceived historical wrongs and damages.
How does this Policy Help Students?
- While reviewing the applications, this policy allows colleges to use a holistic review to consider race as one of many factors for admissions. As a result, it increases the likelihood that a student from a minority background will be given full consideration for admission rather than being disregarded.
- Helps marginalized groups of students by providing them necessary, just, and equitable opportunities over the majority group.
Conclusion
When weighing down affirmative actions in colleges allowing them to accept a certain number of minorities on a scale of pros and cons, it could be seen that the policy is intrinsically unfair due to reverse discrimination, lack of meritocracy, and undermining true performance-based capabilities. However, given the inevitability of historical inequalities in America, the policy is far fairer than those that ignore these factors.
Affirmative action is a way to promote inclusion rather than discrimination by being a counteracting biased treatment. Making deliberate efforts to the inclusion of minorities is the most effective approach to healing society of discriminatory biases. Education is a powerful tool capable of driving changes in the world; ensuring to provide opportunities for every section of the community to be educated will lead to the betterment of society.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does being a minority matter when applying to colleges/universities?
Being a minority matters in colleges/universities when applying for scholarship eligibility, as some scholarships are only available for certain minority groups. Also, considering minorities for admissions helps colleges provide demographic diversity, thus increasing their goodwill and driving the betterment of society.
- Is affirmative action similar to quota?
No, affirmative actions are not similar to quotas. Some governments establish quotas on the minimum number of minority students that an institution must have to be eligible for various subsidies; however, quotas lead to preferential treatment and more discrimination which is illegal in the USA.
- Does being a minority affect a person’s chance to get into college?
No, earlier colleges mainly considered an individual’s performance rather than other factors for admissions, which were often biased toward marginalized groups. However, after affirmative action was adopted, it helped minorities be noticed, which they would have unnoticed otherwise.
- How is Affirmative Action Implemented in Institutions?
Most universities take the form of grants, scholarships, and other types of financial aid to assist financially weakened students in finishing their education without hindrance.
