Letter to the editor: Qualifications, not quotas

Editor,

I am disappointed with the article titled “Now hiring women in government” posted Tuesday April 14. I agree with your statements that the US needs more women in politics. However, I drastically disagree on how to obtain that goal. Women don’t deserve anything but positions that they earned, the same criteria should be used for women and men. Implementing quota laws will detract from all of the forward progress against sexism this country has made. Quota laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment that has been upheld in several Supreme Court Cases. You are arguing that women are “more equal” than men; that they deserve political positions based off of their gender and not their merits.

This lack of women in the government is quite similar to the lack of women in STEM jobs. It’s difficult to hire women in STEM jobs if there are little to no women in the applicant pool. Encouraging women to run for office or study STEM degrees would be much more beneficial than ‘quotas’.

Sincerely,

Hannah Bochsler

Senior Mathematics and Economics Major