Tim,
The test should be whether or not they bend the standards to meet quotas.
I note that the article says that there are 35 women among the 11,000 members of the NYFD. So some of them can pass the test.
And you need to update your stereotypes about doctors and enrollments as top-tiered colleges.
As a percentage of the population, Asians and Jews are over-represented in both fields. The Ivy League needs quotas to keep not only blacks and Hispanics in, but also non-Jewish whites.
I read somewhere that if they went on a pure meritocracy basis (test scores), the Ivies would be about 50% Jewish and Asian, 45% white, and 5% blacks and Hispanics combined.
Affirmative action primarily takes slots from Asians and Jews - other minorities.
Originally Posted by ExNYer
I get it buddy. I just happen to think that the tent is big enough to allow all the qualified folks in while taking into consideration that it's important that everybody be represented. I'm not advocating that the non-hackers like this FDNY firefighter applicant be allowed to take a position she is apparently not qualified for...and I am confident that situation is going to sort itself out.
But, I also believe that a pure merit system may not be the best way to ensure that we get the best doctors, lawyers, police officers, firefighters or anything else. And, when I say the best, I mean the best in the sense of the those who are in the best position to advance the objectives of the whatever profession we are talking about. We need black and Hispanic lawyers. We need black and Hispanic doctors. We need black and Hispanic police officers and firefighters. Even if they don't score the best on the entrance exams to begin their professions. We need people that represent the community and using a merit-based only system doesn't provide us with that result.
By the way, I don't think too many Asians or folks of the jewish persuasion are missing out on employment because of an inability to obtain entry into a good educational institution.
All that having been said....so I am clear. Assuming what is contained in the story about this woman trying to get into the FDNY is true....she obviously ought to be shitcanned. I'm sure there are other fine jobs that she is qualified for that do not require her to run a 12 minute mile. I wonder how she has done on everything else though?