Without Affirmative Action, Diversity Suffers

Studies show that one of the only proven ways to increase the hiring and retention of minorities and women in the workplace is to impose quotas. "Quota" is one of those words that make business leaders cringe. I know because I dropped the Q bomb at a luncheon with Time Warner's COO, Jeff Bewkes, who roundly rejected such a measure at our company. That's why employers who enforce affirmative action tend to be government contractors, who have to meet government-imposed diversity requirements.

I thought about this as I read this morning on Inside Higher Education about what's happened at the University of Michigan Law School. Ever since the state made it drop its affirmative action program, diversity in admittance has plunged.

The percentage of African American, Hispanic and Native American students admitted to the University of Michigan Law School for next fall fell from 39.6 percent for those students whose applications were considered before enactment of a state law banning race-based preferences in December to 5.5 percent thereafter.

Wow! From 40% to 5.5%--that's a tremendous fall. Inside Higher Ed frames the argument like this:

While critics of affirmative action read the numbers as proof of the unfair impact of preferences based on race, advocates for affirmative action said the numbers were early indicators of just how damaging the law will be.

Michigan Law's change in policy hinged on Proposal 2, a ballot initiative voted for by 58% of Michigan voters last fall barring public colleges from using affirmative action in admissions. Most private employers, or course, aren't bound by laws to initiate or bar hiring quotas. I'm not suggesting they ought to be. But let's keep this stunning plunge at Mich Law in mind when we pooh-pooh the idea of affirmative action in the workplace.