Affirmative Action Program example essay topic

Affirmative action has been the topic of debate for many years. It has been controversial because it has been said to be a form of reverse discrimination. This paper will discuss the purpose behind affirmative action, as well as, its various strengths and weaknesses. Also, this paper will look at the following issues surrounding affirmative action such as the incompetency myth (are companies hiring less qualified people? ), the impact on employment (what has changed in the work place? ), the impact on women (how has their lives changed?) and the impact on employment law (what documents back up affirmative action? ).

Lastly, a discussion of affirmative action on an international scale, and what international documents have to say about the topic. The purpose of this paper is to bring to light all the issues, and then make an educated statement of whether affirmative action is a worthwhile activity or if there is a better solution. Affirmative action or positive discrimination can be defined as providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against. This consists of preferential access to education, employment, health care, or social welfare. In employment, affirmative action may also be known as employment equity. Affirmative action requires that institutions increase hiring and promotion of candidates of mandated groups.

(Ruben feld, 1997, p. 429) The purpose of Affirmative Action is a simple one, it exists to level the playing field, so to speak, in the areas of hiring and college admissions based on characteristics that usually include race, sex, and / or ethnicity. A certain minority group or gender may be underrepresented in an arena, often employment or academia, in theory due to past or ongoing discrimination against members of the group. In such a circumstance, one school of thought maintains that unless this group is concretely helped to achieve a more substantial representation, it will have difficulty gaining the critical mass and acceptance in that role, even if overt discrimination against the group is eradicated. For this reason, more effort must be made to recruit persons from that background, train them, and lower the entrance requirements for them. (Goldman, 1976, p. 179) Proponents of affirmative action argue that affirmative action is the best way to correct a history of discrimination against a minority group. In the view of advocates, affirmative action may be seen as redressing an otherwise unfair balance of historical wrongs and institutionalized disadvantages.

(Goldman, 1976, p. 181) An affirmative action program is a management tool designed to ensure equal employment opportunity. A central premise underlying affirmative action is that, absent discrimination, over time a contractor's workforce, generally, will reflect the gender, racial and ethnic profile of the labour pools from which the contractor recruits and selects. This section will be outlining the weaknesses of affirmative action or the arguments against it. Affirmative Action is supposed to be a program designed to end racism, but isn't it really justifying racism by its own actions. Its policies judge people solely on skin color and gender.

That is discrimination in itself. Is discrimination the solution to resolving past discrimination? No, it's not. No program can be considered good when it hurts others. Affirmative Action tried to help minorities and women, but in the process, reverse discrimination has taken place. Now, white males are discriminated against.

This can not be an affirmative program if there is a form of discrimination involved. Instead of choosing a candidate for a job or for school admission, because of one's color or gender, it should be because of their talents and abilities. The best any colored male or female should be selected for the job, or to get accepted into school. Why should some people get special preferences over others? It just isn't correct. There should be no special treatments, and no special preferences given to people.

Everyone has the opportunity to advance in this day and age; you just have to take the initiative. (Nascoste, 1987, p. 294) One criticism of Affirmative Action is that it discriminates against people based on race and sex, and thus is simply a different form of racism and sexism, that legal discrimination based on birth characteristics is racism regardless of whom indulges in such behaviour. (Nascoste, 1987, p. 297) A different argument against affirmative action states that the minorities who are under-represented are not as capable as the dominant groups. This argument has rarely been made openly in the past half-century.

Proponents of this argument point out that even though affirmative action polices have been in place for 40 years the number of Black and Latino college students remains below their proportion of the total population. (Coat, 1993, p. 1229) Some view the disproportionate percentages of different races in schools and jobs as a reflection of minority cultures. Some cultures emphasize education and academic achievement less than others; for example, one might argue that education is highly prized in some Asian countries. Another criticism of affirmative action asserts that these programs encourage economic discrimination in favour of wealthier members of minority groups, since such programs, at least the American versions, do not consider either social or economic class. Critics claim Affirmative Action proponents promote selecting a middle-class minority group member over a better qualified working-class member from the majority group. This is contrary to claims of social justice made by supporters.

It also causes racism towards the preferred group among those excluded because they are members of a group not selected for Affirmative Action benefits. This can be seen to be both counter-productive and unfair. This problem is present in many college admission programs, especially ones adopting so-called need blind admissions policies. Thus affirmative action can be seen as promoting middle class minorities at the price of further handicapping poor non-minorities.

(Nascoste, 1987, p. 299) There have are also many arguments in favour of affirmative action that shows its strengths. Affirmative Action is a program of opportunity; it is not a program of discrimination. This is the major argument people use in defending Affirmative Action. However, white males claim they are now discriminated against because of this program. There are accusations that minorities get hired just for the sake of filling a quota. However, Affirmative Action's mission has never been about hiring less qualified workers, but about opening up equal opportunity and ensuring that equal opportunity with equal results.

In fact, in a Bureau of National Affairs Employment Discrimination Report, most court cases concerning white males being turned down for a job are found not to be because of Affirmative Action, but because of a lack of qualifications and shortcomings. (Holzer & Neu mark, Sept. 2000, p. 492) Affirmative Action has allowed women and other minorities to gain access to higher education and professional jobs. Many people would not be where they are today without this program.

It is a program which has made the society more racial aware, and as a result, more equal. Diversity is desirable and won't always occur if left to chance. Part of the education process is learning to interact with other races and nationalities. Many students live very segregated lives up until the time they start college.

Thus, opinions of other races and nationalities are based on stereotypes. Interaction allows students to learn that persons of the opposite race are people too, more or less just like themselves. Since this diversity is desirable, we want to make sure colleges represent a wide range of backgrounds. Unfortunately, without affirmative action, this diversity is much less likely to occur. Its possible schools with become segregated like in past decades. Elite schools may become increasingly dominated by majority students.

Diversity is so important; we can't leave it to chance. (Reed, 1983, p. 339) Students starting at a disadvantage may need a boost. Minority students, generally speaking, start out at a disadvantage in their college or job application process. They usually come from lower income families and have less opportunity to go to private schools as white students. Some inner city youths must also live their childhoods in high crime, drug-infested areas. Sincere, hard-working minority students are every bit as capable as white students, but because of these disadvantages, they may not have the same paper qualifications.

Affirmative action evens the playing field a bit. (Reed, 1983, p. 340) Affirmative action draws people to areas of study and work they may never consider otherwise. Whether its men being brought into nursing, women brought into technology fields, or minorities brought into Ivy League schools, it is always desirable to bring people to areas of study or work that they may not have considered otherwise. The more we change stereotypes, the less we " ll need affirmative action in the future.

(Reed, 1983, p. 345) Some stereotypes may never be broken without affirmative action. For decades blacks were considered less capable than whites. It took affirmative action to give blacks the opportunity to show they are ever bit as capable. These and other stereotypes have started to change and will continue to change with the help of affirmative action. (Reed, 1983, p. 346) Affirmative action is needed to compensate minorities for centuries of slavery or oppression. The first several centuries of the U.S.'s existence saw whites enslave and oppress blacks, Native Americans, and other minorities.

Minorities gave decades of unpaid labour, had land taken from them, were subject to brutal punishments, and were denied most of the fundamental rights provided by our Constitution. Affirmative action simply provides a way to compensate the descendants for the wrongs done to their ancestors. (Reed, 1983, p. 348) Among the stereotypes of affirmative action is the myth that it will lead to hiring incompetent people. However, the opposite seems to be true, as companies are just forced in finding the best women or minority person in the field as opposed to hiring a person of equal abilities who happens to be a white male. The 'stigma of incompetence based on affirmative action is the discounting of a beneficiary's qualifications as a basis for selection and the assumption that the individual was hired only because of his or her group membership.

The discounting principle suggests that affirmative action provides onlookers with a plausible explanation for a hiring decision that is independent of the hired's qualifications for the position, so that his or her qualifications are subsequently discounted as having been an important factor in making the decision. Since qualifications are typically so crucial in selection decisions, the percept.