When women suspect (even falsely) that they have gained something through affirmative action, their self-confidence often suffers. One female MIT student wrote:
As a freshman I was told I got into MIT because I was female. When I was a sophomore, people told me I would get into 6-A [the industry co-op program] easier because I was female. When I applied for permanent jobs, I was told companies would hire me just because I was female [Anu 1990].As noted in [Anu 1990], hearing such statements repeatedly can harm a woman's self-esteem and cause her to question her ability.
No feminist I have spoken with has favored admitting less-qualified women to university positions. It is easy to see that, in addition to breeding the distrust described above, admitting unqualified women would, in general, be harmful to the people one wants to help: If a woman is admitted to a school for which she is not qualified, she will probably be less happy and successful than if she attends an institute for which she is qualified.