Affirmative action policies in higher education are a tool designed to correct structural inequalities that have historically affected certain social, cultural, and religious groups. Although their critics often strategically label them as “positive discrimination,” this term is misleading because it assumes a pre-existing situation of equality that, in reality, has never existed. These measures do not seek to grant arbitrary privileges but rather to compensate for barriers accumulated over generations that have limited certain groups’ access to higher education. Their aim is to ensure a more effective equality of opportunity and to promote more diverse representation in postgraduate and doctoral studies, spaces that have traditionally been dominated by socially privileged groups.
Various international experiences show that these policies can significantly contribute to expanding university access for underrepresented groups. One notable example is the Posse Foundation program, which identifies students with academic and leadership potential from disadvantaged backgrounds and facilitates their access to prestigious universities through support networks and mentoring. Similarly, in Catalonia, initiatives have been developed to increase the presence of the Roma people in higher education, a group that has historically experienced educational exclusion, segregation, and social discrimination. These programs do not lower academic standards; rather, they seek to compensate for prior inequalities so that talent can develop under more equitable conditions.
In addition to promoting greater educational justice, affirmative action policies play an important role in preventing prejudice and hate speech (Wyzan, 1990). The underrepresentation of certain groups in universities contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes that portray them as outsiders to spaces of academic excellence, reinforcing racist, xenophobic, or anti-Roma narratives, as indicated by Jiménez-Quiñones (2024). Conversely, when universities reflect greater social, cultural, and religious diversity, they encourage everyday interaction among people from different backgrounds, challenge prejudices, and create shared experiences that make it more difficult to reproduce discourses based on dehumanization or exclusion. In this sense, the visible presence of historically marginalized minorities not only expands individual opportunities but also strengthens democratic cohesion and mutual recognition (Jiménez-Quiñones, 2024).
In contrast, criticisms that appeal to the defense of meritocracy often stem from an abstract and individualistic conception of merit that ignores the social conditions under which it is constructed. Discourses that question the legitimacy of these policies frequently portray beneficiary minorities as recipients of undeserved advantages, fueling resentment, hate speech, and reinforcing collective stigmas (Alvárez-Benjumea, 2020). However, the evidence shows that merit cannot be separated from the opportunities effectively available to each individual. From this perspective, affirmative action policies do not constitute a threat to meritocracy but rather a mechanism to make it more genuine by enabling individuals with ability and potential who have faced structural obstacles to compete under fairer conditions. Far from weakening academic excellence, they help build universities that are more inclusive, pluralistic, and capable of combating the prejudices that fuel hate speech in our societies.
In the case of Brazil, various studies on racial and socioeconomic quota policies have shown that these measures significantly increased the presence of Black students and individuals from socially disadvantaged sectors in federal universities, especially in the most competitive degree programs, without causing a generalized decline in academic performance. Likewise, recent longitudinal studies conclude that the inclusion of students admitted through quotas does not negatively affect the performance of non-beneficiary students and produces significant improvements in the educational, labor, and well-being outcomes of historically excluded groups (Galvão et al., 2023).
Consequently, scientific evidence offers us the opportunity to dismantle certain myths claiming that the inclusion of minorities through affirmative action would lead to a decline in academic excellence and pose a threat to meritocracy. On the contrary, a more diverse university can expand opportunities without compromising educational quality, while also helping to combat the prejudices that fuel hate speech.
In a context marked by the rapid circulation of information and misinformation, citizens’ access to rigorous scientific evidence is essential for promoting a critical understanding of social phenomena. Science provides tools to challenge myths, question prejudices, and encourage debates grounded in facts. With this objective, the E-Ciencia project was created, developed in collaboration with OBERAXE and funded by FECYT, to bring scientific knowledge closer to society and contribute to the prevention of hate speech and the strengthening of democratic coexistence.
References
- Galvão, K. C. O. et al. (2023). Affirmative actions: a study on the difference in academic performance between quota and nonquota students at UFV-CRP. Educ. Pesqui. [online]. 2023, vol.49, e257324. http://educa.fcc.org.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1517-97022023000100675&lng=en&nrm=iso
- Wyzan, M (ed). 1990. The political economy of ethnic discrimination and affirmative action: A comparative perspective. Westport, Conn. and London: Greenwood, Praeger. 1990, p. xxxviii, 247
- Jiménez Quiñones, L. (2024). Affirmative Action in Higher Education: Phenomenology and Intersectionality. Sinéctica, 62.
- Álvarez-Benjumea A (2023) Uncovering hidden opinions: social norms and the expression of xenophobic attitudes. European Sociological Review, 39(3):449–463. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcac056
Associate Proffessor in Sociology at the University of Barcelona.
Member of the Advisory Committee on Religious Diversity of the Generalitat de Catalunya.