Just Don't Call It 'Affirmative Action'

While many see Elias Zerhouni's attempt to make his support for new investigators permanent NIH policy a good thing, DrugMonkey doesn't think the issue of who-gets-what is so clear-cut. He says it's the inherent bias in peer review that needs to be changed, and that Band-Aid solutions like the so-called affirmative action favoring young or first-time grant applicants are masking the real problem. "How so? The use of the term 'affirmative action' tells us all we need to know. This brings in the GoodOldWhite(haired)Boyz dogwhistle to assert that New Investigators are rightfully receiving poorer scores and need an artificial leg up," the post says.