I only really got angry with my college advisor once, and that was when he suggested that I’d be well-placed to apply to elite grad schools because, on top of a strong academic record, I was a woman, and the best schools always want more women in their political science programs.  I was furious.  How dare he tell me that my gender would work to my advantage.  I didn’t want to get anything based on gender.  I wanted to get it based on merit, because I was good enough and I’d proved my worth, not because I was bolstering someone’s stats.  Furious.

Of course, he was right.  Whether I wanted it or not, being a woman was going to help those applications.  Getting angry wasn’t going to change anything.

And yet, I still feel the same indignation when I think about that conversation.  And I think I was right then and I am right now to feel it.  Favoring someone because she’s a woman implicitly says that you don’t really think she can compete with men based solely on merit.  “Oh, we don’t expect that of you.  You’re a woman.  We’ll cut you some slack.”  How patronizing!!

So when I saw this morning that 13% of the subcontractors on a Durham road project are required to be women or minorities, I felt that frustration boiling up again.  Really?!  You think women and minorities are so incompetent that they can’t earn those contracts on their own?  And if they can’t, then are you telling me that we’re required to waste taxpayer money on contractors that aren’t as good, or are more expensive – less value for our money – simply because we want to meet some misguided quota?  As both a woman and a fiscal conservative, that makes me angry.

I’m all for giving women and minorities the opportunity to bid on contracts, because I think contracts should be open to, well, businesses.  I don’t actually care who owns or operates those businesses.  I’m not sure why we should even be asking that question.  But as a taxpayer, I’d really like the DOT to get the best value for every single dollar of mine that they spend.  If that’s achieved by giving most contracts to businesses owned by women, fine.  If it’s achieved by giving most contracts to businesses owned by minorities, that’s also fine.  But if it’s achieved by giving most contracts to companies owned by men, then I’m ok with that, too.  I think the DOT owes it to all taxpayers – men, women, minorities – to ensure they’re good stewards of our dollars, that they’re getting the best value for our money.  That, not meeting gender and race quotas, should be their priority.