Benefits of Affirmative Action in Higher Education

For twenty-five years, positive efforts invite been made to satisfactory women and warp of hatful to equal educational opportunities. As a result, the enfolding of the underrepresented groups of our society has increased significantly. The past and the present history of discrimination against women and people of saturation in education have extremely limited the authoritative gen whiletions educational opportunities. Until we can eliminate these inequities, positive measures would remain critical for women and color of people. approbative fulfill programs have made a significant contrariety to a chassis of qualified individuals whose talents would not have watched over without such(prenominal) programs. It has improved the heterogeneity and the quality of education in our schools. In education, optimistic action provides the following to make educational opportunities accessible to solely Americans retrospect of early(a) merit factors besides grades and test scores by portal committees Recruit for undergraduate, graduate admissions, and special educational programs Provide mentoring, counseling, and other nurture programs.Affirmative action In teaching method Has Expanded Opportunities For Women And People Of ruse But The Need RemainsIf we take a closer look, many an(prenominal) a(prenominal) of the nations finest educational institutions had the doors firmly closed to women and people of color. Although the Civil Right Act and the Education Amendments prohibited racial and ethnic discriminations, educational opportunities for women and people of color be still limited by discrimination and stereotyping. As a result, women and people of color continue to fell behind by many educational measures. For exampleEliminating Educational Barriers For Women And People Of Color Through Affirmative Action Has Produced Broader Benefits To Society As A WholeAffirmative action programs have helped to increase the number of women completing right and me dical school. The nominal head of women in justice and health care systems has given consumers more than choices. The great availability of female doctors and lawyers are the direct results of approbatory action programs at medical and law schools.Affirmative action programs in medical schools have increased the number of physicians of color. Data suggests these physicians fill an important role in caring for poor people and members of minority groups. Black and Hispanic physicians subside their practices in areas with higher proportions of residents from underserved minority groups. In addition, they care for higher proportions of patients of their take ply or ethnic groups and patients who are uninsured or are covered by Medicaid.Source Komaromy et al., The Role of Black and Hispanic Physicians in Providing Health Care for Undeserved Populations, The New England Journal of Medicine, May 16, 1996, Vol. 332, nary(prenominal) 20, p. 1305.What Would Happen If Affirmative Actio n Were Eliminated?The elimination of validateative action forget have devastating effects and it has already being felt in two of the nations largest human race universities. In 1995, the University of California systems Board of Regents voted to drop affirmative action in admissions beginning with next years entering class. In Texas, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth roundabout barred public colleges in that state from considering the race of prospective students. The Washington Post (5-19-97) state that 21 black students have been selected for next falls class at UCLAs law school-an 80 part drop from last year and the lowest number of African Americans offered admission since about 1970.In Texas, nearly 400 less black and Hispanic students have been offered admission as undergraduates-a 20 percent decline. The Fall 97 entering class at the University of Texas Law School exit include no African American students. Based on this info each and every civic in the nation should be alarmed. not tho that but also everyone should oppose to the policies denying entire segments of our society the fully range of opportunities that our country has to offer.Why Admissions Policies Consider More Than Grades and Test stacksAntagonist of affirmative action is in favor to rank all applicants on the basis of quantitative measures alone. College admissions counselors and committees do understands that merit consists of just more than grades and test scores. Family income and parental academic attainment can also correlated to a students ability to succeed. So the college counselors and committees understands if they limit the qualifications selection by only grades and test scores that might lead to the exclusion of talented musicians, artists, athletes, and other able individuals. Schools have a legitimate reason to strive for a mixed learning environment for students that will enable them to live in a pluralistic nation and compete in a worldwi de marketplace. A practical education encourages students to interact and work with people of different backgrounds.What the Courts Have Said About Affirmative Action in the Education ContextIn Hopwood V. University of Texas School of Law (1996), the U.S. COURT of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the University of Texass Law Schools affirmative action program violated the qualified Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At issue was an admissions policy that compared minority and non-minority applicants separately. In its decision, the Fifth Circuit said the Supreme Courts ruling in Bakke (that race could be used as one of several factors in admission) was no longer valid. While the Supreme Court allowed the Hopwood ruling to stand, it did not affirm the decisive language of the ruling.Education is a fundamental sexual abstention in every aspect of social and frugal opportunity in the United States of America. More than ever before, educ ational achievement is connected to the economic security and the advancement for individuals as well as the nation as a whole. Schools carry a strong responsibility of preparing the future leaders of our country to effectively live and lead in a diverse society. Americas competitiveness lies in its ability to support the innovative talents of its people. In an era where educated nation is a stronger nation economically and otherwise. As we set out the 21st Century, our commitment as a moral citizen to these programs is more indispensable than ever.