Affirmative Action

Introduction

Affirmative action refers to efforts to provide equal opportunities for all in employment and education. This entry focuses on affirmative action in the United States because it has been the primary site for social science research on the issue. Affirmative action policies and programs take measures to increase the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities in employment and higher education through the use of targeted recruiting and training, formalizing personnel practices, preferential treatment in hiring and educational admissions, and sometimes the use of quotas. The motivation for affirmative action is to redress historical inequalities between social groups by “leveling the playing field” for groups that are disadvantaged by past and current discrimination. Affirmative action has led to important changes in intergroup relations, and its history serves to highlight both the effectiveness and limitations of laws aimed at changing existing relations between social groups that differ in power and status (Wilson, 2004, pp. 136-159).

History

Throughout its 45-year history, affirmative action has been met with controversy and debate. While presidential committees since the 1940s had been wrestling with nondiscrimination clauses in federal contracts, the first mention of the term affirmative action came in 1961 from Executive Order 10925 issued by President John F. Kennedy. Executive Order 10925 was the first legal mandate requiring organizations that do business with the federal government (federal contractors) to “take affirmative action” to ensure that hiring and promotion practices are free of discrimination. Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 (E011246) in 1965, creating the first affirmative action policy to be enforced enough to provoke controversy and debate. E011246 applies to the federal government and to federal contractors with a contract of at least $50,000 and 50 or more employees. Initially, the policy was targeted at eliminating discriminatory barriers for racial/ethnic minorities, but it was modified in 1967 to protect groups based on color, religion, sex, and national origin. While E011246 only requires that the federal government and the businesses that contract with the government have affirmative action plans, many noncontracting organizations have adopted policies that enhance diversity and provide evidence against potential discrimination lawsuits (Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 1997, pp. 69-94).

Affirmative action can be distinguished from equal opportunity policies that simply prohibit discrimination by its call for actions to eliminate barriers to equal opportunity. The presumption behind affirmative action is that even race- and gender-neutral policies can operate in ways that advantage some groups over others. As Johnson relayed in his speech justifying E011246, “You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: 'now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please' … and still justly believe you have been completely fair.” This inequality in access may be the result of current and past discrimination, institutional forms of racism and sexism that bias measures of merit, and/or the tendency of people to hire those they know or who have similar backgrounds.

To ensure that equal opportunity exists, affirmative ...