[satyrnein]

You made the strong claim that affirmative action mathematically requires lowering the proficiency bar. I responded that it depends on certain facts about the world, on which there is much disagreement (whether hiring/admissions is completely objective, whether groups have the same abilities and preferences, etc). I didn't even specify what I personally believed, but I see you dug up your talking points.

I'm responsible for hiring engineers as well, and I don't actually think discrimination plays much of a role at this point in the pipeline; I just rarely see candidates from underrepresented groups cross my desk. From here, it looks like a supply issue upstream (whether from preferences, abilities, or bias). So in this little corner of the world, I agree that affirmative action would require compromising on proficiency. Other corners may be different.