$2$ points

Andrew was the director for cloud computing in a construction company that was also government contractor with an affirmative action plan in place. Andrew had an opening in

the department for a manager and interviewed, along with several others in the IT department, a number of internal and external candidates. With feedback from others using a

scoring system based on skills and competencies, two candidates emerged as the top runners, both internal employees with excellent skills and performance history. After

Andrew reviewed all the interview scores and talked to the interviewers in person in addition to reading their notes, he realized that both candidates were virtually tied. One

candidate was a male aged $38$ with $7$ years of service while the other candidate was a female, aged $40,$ with $6$ and $\frac{3}{4}$ years of service. What practice, often used with affirmative

action plans, can Andrew use to help him decide who to hire? On the basis of that practice, who should Andrew hire?