"Affirmative action, also known as positive action or positive discrimination (British English), involves sets of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to include particular groups that were historically discriminated against in areas in which such groups are underrepresented, mistreated or suffer from lack of public support — such as education and employment."
The study of policies and practices designed to increase representation and opportunities for members of historically disadvantaged groups in employment, education, and other areas of life.
History of Affirmative Action: This covers the background and origins of Affirmative Action, including its evolution in the United States.
Legal Framework: This topic covers the legal and policy landscape of Affirmative Action, including relevant laws and court cases, both past and present.
Racial Prejudice: This topic deals with racial prejudice, including its causes, effects, and ways to mitigate it.
Diversity and Equality: This covers the concepts of diversity and equality, including their importance and how they relate to Affirmative Action.
Discrimination in the workplace: This topic addresses issues of discrimination in the workplace, including the different forms they may take, and how Affirmative Action may be implemented to tackle them.
Gender and Sexual Orientation: This topic deals with the specific issues faced by women, the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups, and how Affirmative Action may be used to address them.
Education and Admissions: This topic covers Affirmative Action in the realm of education, including admissions policies and the controversy surrounding them.
Business and Workforce: This explores how Affirmative Action may be implemented in businesses and organizations to create a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Social and Economic Impacts: This topic deals with the social and economic impacts of Affirmative Action, including its potential benefits and drawbacks.
Politics and Public Opinion: This covers the political and public opinion aspects of Affirmative Action, including different viewpoints and the debate surrounding the policy.
Recruitment Goals: This type of affirmative action involves setting specific targets for the recruitment of underrepresented groups in the workplace, such as women, ethnic minorities, and disabled persons.
Outreach Programs: Outreach programs are designed to reach out to underrepresented groups and to encourage them to apply for jobs or educational opportunities. Programs can include targeted advertising, job fairs, or campus visits.
Hiring Policies: These involve policies like preferential treatment for underrepresented groups while hiring. Sometimes, quotas can also be established to hire more people from underrepresented communities.
Training Programs: Training programs are intended to develop the capacity of employees from underrepresented groups. Some training programs aim to provide a long-term solution to the disparities that exist in the workplace.
Educational Programs: Educational programs are intended to give members of underrepresented groups access to educational opportunities like college admissions or scholarships. Such programs are beneficial in providing equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds.
Proactive Efforts: Proactive measures are policies or practices that are put in place before any action that could potentially result in discrimination. For example, making sure that all forms and job descriptions are gender-neutral or blind to race so that it minimizes the possibility of bias taking place.
"Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing wrongs, harms, or hindrances."
"The nature of affirmative-action policies varies from region to region and exists on a spectrum from a hard quota to merely targeting encouragement for increased participation."
"Some countries use a quota system, reserving a certain percentage of government jobs, political positions, and school vacancies for members of a certain group; an example of this is the reservation system in India."
"In some other jurisdictions where quotas are not used, minority-group members are given preference or special consideration in selection processes."
"Affirmative action by executive order originally meant selection without regard to race but preferential treatment was widely used in college admissions, as upheld in the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger until 2023, when this was overturned in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard."
"An alternative approach, common in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, is positive action. Under this approach, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join police forces."
"In the United States, affirmative action is controversial and public opinion on the subject is divided."
"Supporters of affirmative action argue that it promotes equality and representation for groups which are socio-economically disadvantaged or have faced historical discrimination or oppression."
"Opponents of affirmative action have argued that it is a form of reverse discrimination, that it tends to benefit the most privileged within minority groups at the expense of the least fortunate within majority groups, or that—when applied to universities—it can hinder minority students by placing them in courses for which they have not been adequately prepared."
"In June 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States decided a landmark case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, holding race-conscious college admissions processes to be unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause."
"However, the ruling does not explicitly apply to U.S. military academies, and it allows for students to discuss race in the context of 'how race affected the applicant's life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.'" Please note that the output provided by the AI is based on existing information and does not imply personal agreement or endorsement of any viewpoint.