Here's a pretty clear example.
Suppose an HR director gets two nearly identical resumes, people applying for a job. One black, the other white.
A reasonably savvy HR director will know that the white applicant got the credentials with Affirmative Action working against them. The black applicant had Affirmative Action working for them. All else equal, the white applicant is probably better.
This is completely the opposite of 50 years ago. But it is the modern reality.
Tom
How did someone get credentials ‘with affirmative action working against them?’
Why do you assume that a black applicant only earned their credentials because of affirmative action?
You don't know it, but you suspect it. There are colleges where basically all black admits are below basically all white admits.
People aren't employing admits, they're employing graduates.
If your contention is that colleges don't teach anything, or even that all students get the exact same gain in ability and knowledge, it's going to be entertaining to watch you try to support it.
If that's not your contention, then you are worrying about something irrelevant. My employer isn't concerned about the ability I had to drive a heavy vehicle on the day I started training, or on the day I left kindergarten; Only about my ability at the end of my driver training, when I took my test.
Nobody cares if a graduate was a total ignoramus when they started college; They care what they knew when they passed their final exams - which is why there are final exams in the first place.