Affirmative action, an idea advanced by President John F. Kennedy (see Executive Order 10925), provides an opportunity for qualified women and minorities to be considered for job vacancies. Each candidate is assessed based on the same standard.
Race and sex preferences exist when women and minorities with lesser qualifications are assessed based on a different standard (often lower) than the rest of the candidates. The goal is to fill a quota, expressed or implied, in the name of diversity.
West Virginia University (WVU) is searching for a new president. According to this story, the search committee has been asked to “keep an eye out for female and minority candidates.”
Although the university’s faculty is “somewhat diverse already,” it has never had a black or female president. Naturally, people assume bias. The problem, of course, is there’s usually no evidence of bias. Simply hiring the most qualified person for the job, without regard for skin color or sex, should be the goal in any case.
If WVU is extending its search to include more qualified minorities and women in the pool of candidates, it has taken an affirmative step to increase representation from these groups. If the university is treating black and female candidate differently by virtue of their race and sex for whatever reason, that’s discrimination.
See the distinction?
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