Constituent Question: Affirmative Action
Full Question: What is your position on affirmative action? Do you believe there is racial and economic disparity in this country?
Yes, there are numerous racial and economic disparities in this country, which stem from a variety of complex historic and contemporary factors. I believe in, support, and appreciate the spirit behind the original Civil Rights legislation for equality in employment opportunities (commonly referred to as “affirmative action” as a catch-all term). I also understand that the US Supreme Court has issued rulings in recent years that undermine, prevent, or rollback certain specific aspects of how affirmative action policies are practiced (including the well publicized impacts on college admissions decisions).
This is another nuanced topic that can offer easy political applause by simply claiming to be “for” or “against” affirmative action. While I cannot predict the specific nature of any state legislation I might encounter if elected, I will point to the approach that I take as a hiring manager in my day job as an indicator about how I think about this topic everyday.
When crafting job descriptions and the qualifications for a role that I’m trying to fill as an employer, I start with (depending on the seniority of the role) what would traditionally be the “minimum qualifications” such as “Masters Degree in X with Y years of experience doing Z” but I am always careful to leave open ended alternatives that include “… or Y+10 years of experience doing Z” to account for qualified people with “non-traditional” paths in life. For more entry- and mid-level roles, I always include alternative qualifications that don’t include any academic degree at all.
As a hiring manager, I always include at least 1 and preferably 2 other team members in the interview process. Before the interview, I coach my team members to avoid questions or statements that might accidentally alienate candidates of a particular background, and then after the interview I encourage my team members to share their thoughts on each candidate as objectively as possible and challenge any potential biases they may observe in me (or each other). As a result of these practices, I have been able to hire, retain, and engage a team of very strong performers, which by any reasonable measure would be considered diverse.
That said, I also understand and have observed employers (individual hiring managers, companies, and entire industries), which don’t follow these best practices. When employment discrimination (overt or inadvertent) is compounded with generations of legalized redlining and extrajudicial harassment or discrimination (for race, religion, sexual orientation, country of origin… and the list goes on), I understand that more work needs to be done in society to improve employment and economic opportunities for all — even before future would-be-employees start kindergarten!