In 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched by Xi Jinping, featuring an ambition to reinvigorate the old silk trading route along the East African coast. Chinese investment in Africa peaked around 2016. Since then, Chinese loans to African governments declined significantly, falling from $28.4 billion in 2016 to $1.9 billion in 2020 – partly due to changing priorities in domestic Chinese politics, and partly due to the apparent difficulty African countries had repaying loans. Citing data from China's National Bureau of Statistics, the number of Chinese workers in Africa has plummeted from 263,696 in 2015 to 88,371 in 2022.
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Affirmative Action
"Disparate results" are quite the rage. Several of the next few days will be on that topic, culled from a Hillsdale lecture.
The Medical College Achievement Test (MCAT) is an exam, like the SAT, that assesses students for application, specifically to med school. The average MCAT score for black applicants is a standard deviation below the average score of white applicants. The tests have been redesigned to try to eliminate this disparity. A quarter of the questions now focus on social issues and psychology. Some medical schools have waived the submission of MCAT scores for black applicants. The changes have been extended to the medical school curriculum which is being revised to offer more classes in white privilege and focus less on clinical practice.
The medical licensing exam has two parts. The first part is taken during or after the second year of medical school and tests medical students’ knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. On average, black students score lower on the exam, making it harder for them to land their preferred residencies. That exam has a “disparate impact” on black medical students. The answer, implemented last year, was to eliminate the grading disparity by instituting a pass–fail system. Hospitals choosing residents can no longer distinguish between high and low-achieving students.
The Medical College Achievement Test (MCAT) is an exam, like the SAT, that assesses students for application, specifically to med school. The average MCAT score for black applicants is a standard deviation below the average score of white applicants. The tests have been redesigned to try to eliminate this disparity. A quarter of the questions now focus on social issues and psychology. Some medical schools have waived the submission of MCAT scores for black applicants. The changes have been extended to the medical school curriculum which is being revised to offer more classes in white privilege and focus less on clinical practice.
The medical licensing exam has two parts. The first part is taken during or after the second year of medical school and tests medical students’ knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. On average, black students score lower on the exam, making it harder for them to land their preferred residencies. That exam has a “disparate impact” on black medical students. The answer, implemented last year, was to eliminate the grading disparity by instituting a pass–fail system. Hospitals choosing residents can no longer distinguish between high and low-achieving students.
But sacrifices must be made.
The American Association of Medical Colleges will soon require that medical faculty demonstrate knowledge of “intersectionality”—a theory about the cumulative burdens of discrimination. Heads of medical schools and chairmen of departments like pediatric surgery are being selected based on identity, not knowledge.
The federal government is shifting medical research funding from pure science to studies on racial disparities and social justice. Why? Not because of any assessment of scientific need, but simply because black researchers do more racism research and less pure science. The National Institutes of Health has broadened the criteria for receiving neurology grants to include things like childhood welfare receipt because considering scientific accomplishment alone results in a disparate impact.
The American Association of Medical Colleges will soon require that medical faculty demonstrate knowledge of “intersectionality”—a theory about the cumulative burdens of discrimination. Heads of medical schools and chairmen of departments like pediatric surgery are being selected based on identity, not knowledge.
The federal government is shifting medical research funding from pure science to studies on racial disparities and social justice. Why? Not because of any assessment of scientific need, but simply because black researchers do more racism research and less pure science. The National Institutes of Health has broadened the criteria for receiving neurology grants to include things like childhood welfare receipt because considering scientific accomplishment alone results in a disparate impact.
Disparities have explanations, explanations that can be addressed. But there is a real problem with any organized attack on quality--or should be. Not only is it damaging to the nature of the academic pursuit and its participants, it offers mediocrity as a cultural goal.
We are simply not robust enough a culture to indulge in such an uncritical world.
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