While such factors are permissible for consideration in a set of criteria, they may not be used as the sole criterion. Affirmative action programs work if they are implemented with overall fairness and consistency. The key to a workable affirmative action program is aggressive recruitment activity and objective and responsible selection criteria so that all groups, including protected groups, advance through the system. No system works if it is only a paper procedure. There are many misconceptions about affirmative action.
Affirmative action forces institutions to lower their standards when hiring.
No affirmative action plan calls on an institution to lower its standards for the hiring or advancement of employees, Minorities and women on campus have to meet the same basic standards for promotion, tenure, or pay raises as their white male colleagues. Indeed, many women and minority employees believe they must actually perform at a higher standard in order to be considered equal to members of the white male population group. Either there are no qualified women and minorities for some positions or it takes too much time to find them. Enlarging the pool of candidates and treating all candidates equitably and fairly is more a function of will than of time. For almost every job, the fact is that there are many qualified women and minorities.