Therefore, instead of discussing affirmative action per se, I would like to comment on the related issues of standards, evaluation, and priorities. Before doing so, let me address the suggestion that affirmative action be eliminated in favor of true gender-blind equitable treatment for all. I wish that we lived in a world where that was possible. But studies continue to show that hidden biases leave that an ideal to strive toward. In classical music blind auditions have worked well and been effective in increasing the number of women in major orchestras.
Few situations lend themselves to blind evaluation.
For grant proposal evaluation and speaker selection, track record is sufficiently important to make anonymity impossible. Blind refereeing of papers has been successfully used in some fields. However, when it was advocated by AWM 20 years ago, it was vehemently rejected by the mathematics establishment. Reprinted with permission Brought to you by the Association for Women in Mathematics .