Equal Opportunity: Why so Many Questions?

What are the first few questions you can think of that are generally always on any application for employment or enrollment? Name, Race, ethnic background, male, female, eye color? I am sure that somewhere along the way the answers to these questions come in handy, such as the number of students in a certain ethnic group or the ratio between male to female students. Yet why are these questions, in any situation, the first to be asked? When were these questions adopted as the standard to many institutions across the United States?

I am not saying that gathering the information is inappropriate, the employer or school would be able to answer the majority of those questions for themselves the first time they lay eyes on us. But do the answers to these questions come into play more than what the public knows? Does it become a type of “book cover” that is formulated about the potential student or employee before ever taking a look at the qualifications that truly matter such as skills? I wonder how many times an application has been over looked (even subconsciously) because of these questions and the answers that they provide.

I mentioned, “name” as one of the listed questions because there is a lot that goes into a name. Even with interracial relationships blurring the line a bit, everybody gets a mental picture of a person when they read a name. What do you think of when you think of Juan Alfonso Mejia? How about Edda Mae Jones? This is the same way our brain works when you are told not to think of a pink elephant in skates.

Then where would we ever gain this information? Will we just ask for your facebook profile instead? Google it ourselves? Again, the information is not the problem. The problem is, can we, without a doubt, make a decision solely based on skills and qualifications while knowing all the answer to all of these questions? I believe there are a few institutions out there than can say yes. Maybe you should research when they were first incorporated into an admissions process. I think you will be surprised at the Ivey League. Go ahead, take a look.

I suggest to having a random number generated when we submit an application, be it for an educational institution or for employment. There isn’t anything wrong with a number.