Supreme Court poised to strike down affirmative action in Harvard and UNC cases - let's talk about the ramifications (now struck down, June 29, 2023)

[PhillyGuy]

Re how MIT gets a 48 percent female undergraduate student body, proof is lacking because the admissions criteria, as at all such schools, is opaque. But it is obvious to insiders, as my next link will show, that, on top of recruiting, there also is AA gender discrimination when making admit decisions. And like any such preference, the students who are the supposed beneficiaries know it – and it has a negative effect on how they think about the world, and themselves. This from a MIT undergraduate woman is old but honest (and to the school’s credit, they have not taken it down):

I don’t think gender should be considered at all. Whether or not MIT (or anyone, for that matter) “stretches” the requirements for girls, the fact is that people perceive that they do, and this causes all kinds of trouble. I think this whole business of making “women in engineering” into a big issue just makes a huge mess. It causes unnecessary tension and questions. I know guys who have waved away every accomplishment I ever made by chalking it up to affirmative action. I know girls who start to doubt their own abilities because they start wondering if they’re only here to be “some Course Sixers girlfriend.” I know you’re thinking, “that’s absurd, no one but that crazy anonymous guy would ever say something like that, stop exaggerating,” but I’m telling you that it’s true. We’ve woven a deep psychological mess for ourselves, and some people can take it pretty hard.