I would like to disagree with Tim. Actually, I do believe there is some affirmative action when it comes to marking of scripts. The goal of CFAI is to make their program truly global.
Say there are only 50 charterholders in Zimbabwe, 10 candidates sit for the exma and 9 fail. Do you think it is in the best interest of the CFAI to let 9 candidates fail when they want to increase their awareness and reach in Zimbabwe?
I will tell you what I would do if I was CFAI, I would actually make 6 pass, that means 6 more people to increase reach and awareness/market penetration etc.
You can look at the pass rates when the program was still in its infancy in the US, the pass rates were sky high because they needed market penetration.
***These are my opinions–so you CFAI PCP bloundhounds can back off****
There aren’t many black people in high finance, period. May not be as bad in the US but here in the UK i’d hazard a guess that 80%+ of top finance guys are white, with the remaining majority Asian (Indian/Chinese etc.).
I think this is totally wrong and irresponsible. CFAI wouldn’t do this. everyone is a number and if you cannot pass the exam, then you don’t deserve to pass. race/color of skin/ ethnicity should have 0 impact.
But what if the test itself is racist? I mean, it’s written in a white person’s language.
I think that blacks should get their own test written in ebonics to ensure that the bigotry of the exam doesn’t manifest itself in higher pass rates for whites and Jews.
Not saying you’re right or wrong, but I’m pretty sure I had to fill out a survey on the front of the exam containing details which included my race for, ahem, research purposes. There is also an exam number leading me to believe separate exam locations have different versions of the exam to potentially prevent cheating via time zone differences. If the CFAI wanted to, it wouldn’t be hard to justify a MPS for different exam locations given the different exam version.
]if cfai was bold enough to bump up the mps for say Zimbabwe it wouldn’t take long before candidates from developed, fair score regions to book flights to Zimbabwe to take the exam. or for locals to get their charter and then move to a developed region with the charter. there’s just too many issues. think why ferrari won’t release a $25k car even though they could make a total killing if they do. if you have a top tier brand you cannot dilute your brand. youll be shooting yourself in the foot. you can create a lower tier brand like Clarita but won’t risk the CFA charter
if the test is racist BECAUSE it’s written in English, explain all the Indians and Chinese people who have the CFA charter.
This is the same retarded logic that is used to claim that the elite colleges are racist, yet they are filled with Asian students who have high test scores, high GPAs etc.
The test is supposed to be written in English if most of the employers are expecting English-speaking job applicants. There’s nothing racist about it - it’s just reality.
The economic race should not be arranged so everyone arrives at the finish line at the same time but so that everyone starts at the starting line at the same time.
WTH how did I miss this thread before!?!? I actually wish CFAI would keep stats on the ethic make up of charterholders. To this day I still think I’m 1 of 7 black charterholders in New York, maybe even 1 out of 40 in the world.
I’m not complaining though. “Hi I’m a black CFA, we’re very rare” is one of my goto pick-up lines at happy hours!
I wouldn’t advertise that; with the rarity, it shouldn’t be difficult for CFA Institute to identify you and then sanction you for that blatant Ethics violation.
Good point, but I don’t recall disclosing my race on my CFAI profile. Unless I hit on a chick who happens to work in PCP investigations, I’ll take my chances.
The only problem is I can’t tell if the asian chicks love me or just want to study me when I drop my line.