PORTLAND, USA, NOVEMBER 23 (IPS) – Countries all over the world, as well as various countries like India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Ireland, Israel and Italy, are grappling with the problem. how to best balance diversity and meritocracy among the ethnicities, races, classes, language groups and religions in their populations.
In a growing number of areas, including politics, jobs, careers, education, the armed forces, immigration, the justice system, entertainment and sports, countries are making strides. outstanding development. decision about when to strive for diversity and when to emphasize meritocracy.
Some diversity and meritocracy goals can be seen as no contradiction. In practice, however, these two goals are often difficult to reconcile, especially with imprecise goals. definedifference the concept and lack of reliability measure.
Promoting diversity certainly poses many challenges to society. However, the pursuit of meritocracy also faces disapproval. risk and prejudice as distinguish behind the effort to be rewarded.
The rewards attributed to meritocracy are often simply the result of exclusive right, heritage and right. Add Doa, some argued that the pursuit of meritocracy actually creates inequality, inhibits social mobility, and increases unhappiness.
must admit, diversity and meritocracy Populations across countries are diverse and vary considerably across the globe. However, useful insight can be gained from examining the experience of a typical country for a country that is struggling to find the right balance between diversity and meritocracy. : USA.
WE law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. At the same time, however, policies and practices, such as affirmative actionaims to combat discrimination against certain racial groups by increasing employment, promotion, higher education and other opportunities.
Since The first census of the United States In 1790, the United States Census Bureau was tasked with collecting information on the racial makeup of the United States population. In the 1790 census, it was estimated that 81 percent of the population of the United States identified as white with the rest 19 percent listed as black, with 92 percent of them being slaves.
The proportion of whites in the U.S. population rose to 90% in 1920, a ratio that remained until 1950 when it began to decline and reached 80 percent in 1990. At the beginning of the 21st century, the proportion of white people continued to decline to about 75% of what it is today. The proportion of whites is projected to continue to decline, reaching 68% of the US population by 2060 (Figure 1).
The methods used by the Census Bureau to collect data on race over the past 230 years have evolved, reflect changes in American society. Based on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 1997 standard Regarding race, the Census Bureau collects self-determined responses to the race question, with respondents allowed to select more than one race.
OMB requires minimum year Category: White, Black or African American, Asian, Native American or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Those categories reflect a social definition of race and not biologically, anthropologically, or genetically determined.
Types of races and theirs ratio of the total population of 332 million people in 2021 of the United States are: White 75.8%, Black or African American at 13.6%, Asian at 6.1%, Native American or Alaska Native at 1.3%, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander at 0.3% and two or more races at 2.9 percent (Fig. 2).
Looking at some examples from different areas of life in the United States is helpful in illustrating different aspects of the nation’s efforts to balance racial diversity and utilitarianism. talent.
In professional basketball African-Americans represent 20 percent of league players in 1960. Today African Americans make up about 75 percent of basketball players in the National Basketball Association.
In contrast, among the country’s orchestras, African-Americans make up less 2 percent of the players. Nearly half a century ago, the selection of orchestral musicians was changed to audition Hidden face in which the candidates perform behind the curtain. Since blind auditions don’t lead to making the orchestra more diverse, some called for an end to blind auditions and to consider the race for orchestras to reflect the communities they serve.
In professional football African-Americans represent 58 percent of the players. However, they occupy 9 percent of the head coach, or five head coaches in the 32 team league of the National Football League (NFL).
Almost 20 years ago after accusations Regarding discriminatory head coach hiring practices, NFL team owners agreed to a policy change to address those accusations. Among those changes is the so-called Rooney’s Lawsaid, “Any club looking to hire a head coach will interview one or more minority candidates for that position.”
In the armed services, African Americans make up 23 percent of enlisted soldiers, nearly twice their share in the U.S. population. However, among officers, the percentage of African Americans is significantly lower at 11 percent.
The US military has made a number of ability to judge to promote racial diversity at a higher level. The military, for example, has deleted photo of officers from personnel records so the promotion board knows less about race and they have more minority officer selection of combat missions, this is an important stepping stone to the rank of high-ranking officer.
For higher education, racial consciousness enrollment practice of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina are being challenged in cases present before the Supreme Court. Court is being asked to review constitutional racial preference in the college admissions of those two universities.
Asian American enrollment Harvard University and University of North Carolina 25 and 22% respectively. Those percentages are approximately four times the share of Asian Americans in the U.S. population.
However, the sense of race enrollment practice of those two universities is being considered by the court. After the first hearing on the cases on October 31, the Supreme Court is ready, based on its questions and comments, to rule that the Harvard and University of North Carolina admissions programs is illegal.
These admission practices, which accused of discrimination against Asian Americans and effectively Asian admission limit number, yes draw comparison before previous attempts by Harvard and other elite universities to limit enrollment Jewish Americans. If only academically, internal research of Harvard University suggests that Asian Americans will make up 43 percent of an acknowledged class.
In four Gallup poll since 2003By 2016, at least two-thirds of Americans saidCollege admissions should be based solely on merit. A more recent country Washington Post survey In October, a majority of Americans, 63 percent, supported a ban on considering race in college admissions. At the same time, however, a majority in that survey, 64 percent, endorse programs that promote racial diversity on campus.
The imbalance in achieving racial diversity is also reflected in the composition of American occupations. For example, while Asian Americans represent 17 percent of active physicians, the rate for African-Americans is 5 percent.
Likewise in the sciences and engineering, the proportions for Asian Americans and African Americans are 21 and 5 percent, respectively. Among U.S. attorneys, rates are relatively low for both Asian-Americans and African-Americans in 2 and 5 percentcorresponding.
Americans’ personal views on diversity in the workplace also reflect the difficulty of balancing racial diversity and meritocracy. a country PEW survey in 2019 showed that the majority, 75 percent, value diversity in the workplace. However, a majority in that survey, 74 percent, also felt that only a candidate’s qualifications and not race was taken into account when hiring and promoting even if it led to diversity. less than.
The issue of how best to balance diversity and meritocracy remains a major challenge for the United States and many other countries. That challenge has become tougher in the United States. with the confusing and damaging use of the categories of race, ethnicity, language, ancestry and origin that increasingly little meaning.
In short, with the world population increasing eight billionMovement demographic landscape of the national population and the basic need to guarantee human rights For all, the challenge of balancing diversity and meritocracy is likely to become more important and more consequential for countries in the years to come.
Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, former director of the United Nations Population Division and the author of numerous publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Birth, Death, Migration and Other Important Population Issues.”
© Inter Press Service (2022) — All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
