Dismantling Affirmative Action

Affirmative action enables students of a minority background to have an increased chance in being accepted to a college. The adverse effects it may have are often not brought to light.The policies that make up affirmative action support minorities by accepting students they feel could benefit from attending that institution. This is an opportunity to enter a selective school based heavily on their race, instead of focusing on academic skills. Their academic profiles do influence their admission; However, the students are given more leeway in regards to meeting the school standards.Accepting students who may not be the right fit for the school creates a disadvantageous situation. These students tend to fall behind the curve and receive poorer scores than those placedin less demanding programs. This is demonstrated by the ratio of black students who fall behind, blacks are more likely to enter college than are whites with similar backgrounds, they will usually get much lower grades, ... and far more often drop out (Sander & Taylor Jr, 2012). The acceptance of the minority students can become a hindrance in their journey of receiving an education.

Due to their lower scores, minorities are strengthening a pre-constructed stereotype. This leads to an overrepresentation of Latinos, among other minority groups, of the students who dropout of school. The mismatch of students is placing them in classrooms where they are unprepared or have a hard time keeping up with the pace. The lessons are geared to students whoscore higher than them and contributes to the divide in scores between these groups. It is causing more harm than good to accept students into a learning environment that is far too advanced.Seeing low scores poses a psychological toll as well. The students feel overwhelmed and gain a low sense of self. The constant disappointment and comparison of scores leads to a weak mental state and further influences the student to give up. This causes the reinforcement of stereotypes and causes the statistical data for minorities to remain low compared to other students.Utilizing affirmative action decreases the probability that minorities will pursue their career path of choice.

 Competitive fields that are accompanied by a substantial workload have even less minority representation. The mismatch of students in these institutions causes them to fall behind in core classes needed for acquiring a degree, The more colleges and universities engage in preferential treatment, the fewer the African-Americans and Hispanics who will graduate with degrees in science and engineering (Heriot, 2013). This demonstrates the placement of students in classes matching their mental capacity is crucial in their overall success.Coming from a minority background I have witnessed what an person can gain from receiving an education. This is beneficial in obtaining a job or earning a higher wage. For some, the stress of college causes them to quit when they feel they are doing poorly

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