Affirmative Action Hires Are As or More Qualified than White Male Counterparts, Study Finds

A new study conducted by two Michigan State researchers has found that persons hired through affirmative action programs are as qualified, and in many cases more qualified, than their white male counterparts. Economists Harry Hgolzner and David Neumark studied more than 3,200 randomly-selected employers in Detroit, Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles. The researchers found that, "Black females hired under affirmative action obtain higher performance ratings than white males hired in similar firms." Furthermore, "The evidence for white females, black males, Hispanic females, also indicates that their performance is not lower than that of white males in similar firms." The researchers concluded that, "There is essentially no performance shortfall among most groups of women and minorities hired under affirmative action

Media Resources: The Washington Post - January 12, 1997

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