<p>YES, affirmative action is often bad for its "beneficiaries". I do think that many people would benefit from going to less competitive schools, where they could be challenged but not overwhelmed. I did not hear what you referred to on NPR, but I am inclined to think that those minority students who don't pass the bar exam are not ending up incredibly successful lawyers! What's missing is, as Cangel suggests, some answers to questions such as whether similarly qualified students at somewhat less selective schools have a higher pass rate.</p>
<p>Personally I suspect (and what drives me crazy is that you can never know for sure) that I might have been a "beneficiary" of affirmative action of a sort in my graduate school applications because I was a woman going into a heavily male-dominated field. My background was weak compared to that of most others, and I managed to stay afloat and ultimately finish my master's degree with a respectable GPA only by studying every minute, not sleeping, taking extra time to finish, etc. So I did ultimately succeed, BUT, looking back, I think having my sanity during that period of my life might have been preferable to getting to be in one of the most selective programs in my field. Also, since most of the students in my program were international students, I think that Americans in general got preferential treatment in admission to my program, and Americans were way over-represented among people dropping out of the program.</p>
<p>I have heard similar things about some undergraduate institutions that use affirmative action, such as minority students are more likely to drop out, etc. Sybbie719 mentioned some of the obstacles that less privileged students face, but I would like to point out that the last thing you need when you are in that type of situation, needing to spend a lot of time outside of school working and so on, is to be in a school where you are underprepared and overwhelmed by the work!</p>
<p>I don't trust the universities at all. They stand to gain SO MUCH through affirmative action, in terms of being able to enhance their image as a "diverse" institution, and probably in terms of not getting into trouble with the government. I believe that universities are USING students from under-represented groups to benefit themselves, often at the cost of hurting the students. We are talking about students who are young and inexperienced, who do not know the pro-diversity pressures that universities are under, and who may not even be able to conceive of how hard it may be for them to succeed at the universities that are so enthusiastically admitting them, especially since many of these universities simply do not offer adequate support to these students once they are enrolled. Of course, by giving preferential admission to certain groups, you make it probable that SOME people from those groups will graduate, but it seems that in many cases many others from that group are sacrificed in the process. It can be VERY disruptive to your life to drop out, fail out, have to change fields, etc.</p>
<p>The problems of educational inequity should be fixed, but college and graduate school admissions are not the best place to do that. It would be great if this kind of easy solution could magically fix everything, but it can't. How about good funding for ALL of the public schools at the lower levels of education? This type of solution is much harder, but we need to accept that the background needed for many universities and jobs is significant, and good intentions alone can't make up for years of denied educational opportunities.</p>
<p>In my case, I would love it if I could meet a school recruiter or prospective employer and know that that person was judging me by my qualifications and not being biased either against me OR for me because I am a woman. I am not there to play games or to be used to help somebody's image or self-congratulatory and patronizing feelings of charity. I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood, both my parents are highly educated and employed full-time, etc.; in other words, I don't need charity. I don't think I have any hidden extra potential that somebody needs to bring out by admitting me to an academic program or hiring me for a job for which I don't really have the qualifications.</p>
<p>Finally, to avoid having people get mad at me unnecessarily, I am not saying that ALL people whose admission is affected by affirmative action are WAY less qualified than the standard. I think it really depends on the program. I have no doubt that there are SOME programs that are ready to lower their standards significantly to admit students whose presence they can use for their own purposes.</p>