In past blogs, I showcased the different arguments for and against affirmative action used by higher education institutions. Not only does affirmative action give more opportunities for individuals belonging to groups that have historically been discriminated against, but affirmative action can also begin to promote equality towards the future. One issue with affirmative action is that it is generally only utilized by higher educational institutions, and this can decrease any widespread benefits that may otherwise be possible. For example, if affirmative action was applied to other influential groups around the country, this could increase the benefits more than colleges alone leading the forefront.
If affirmative action was utilized in the workplace, this may expedite the amount of time it takes until all groups of people have the same opportunities to achieve similar goals. With this added boost, affirmative action may only be necessary for several more decades, as opposed to an even longer amount of time. Utilizing this opportunity-generating tool may lead to a society where each individual has a better chance of achieving their version of the American dream.
According to the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, affirmative action can be utilized to increase the number of women and minority groups working in fields that have historically been dominated by white men. This technique is believed to reduce the temptation of only hiring "buddies," but instead opens the door for so many others that might not otherwise have the opportunity. It is considered illegal to discriminate against someone applying to a job based on gender, race, or any other characteristics not under their control. For this reason, affirmative action does not simply mean hiring someone because they are diverse. Instead, it requires that upmost fairness be given to all parties applying and this ensures that groups that have been denied opportunities in the past can now have them.
Also, according to HigherEdJobs, affirmative action does not mean hiring people who are less qualified based on gender or race. Instead, it requires advertising and screening processes to be unbiased and nondiscriminatory. Also, another myth surrounding affirmative action in the workplace is that it does not indicate the use of quotas. In reality, quotas are forbidden, but placement goals do exist to show with statistics about how diverse a career field could ideally become.
On the other hand, many people still believe that affirmative action should not be utilized in the workplace. At public universities where thousands of applicants are accepted regardless, affirmative action seems to make a much less noticeable impact from individual to individual. However, if a job came down to less than five applicants, and affirmative action was utilized to pick the future employee, this may feel much more personal. For this reason, affirmative action has not historically been utilized in many work environments for hiring or promotional purposes.
Now, I want to know what you think. Is affirmative action a fair way to treat people in the workplace, or should this tool only remain in use within higher education. Would utilizing affirmative action in the workplace lead to more equality, or a decrease in race relations in the United States? We can all agree that a society where race is no longer a factor in opportunity is idea, but the path to reach this goal varies depending on an individual's opinion. I want to hear your opinion, so leave a comment below and let's continue the discussion!
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Hi Jack, I thought this was a very good post about something very much worth discussing. I personally feel that utilizing affirmative action in the workplace could be beneficial to help underrepresented groups gain earned footing in certain careers. However, for me there remains a question, no matter where affirmative action is being employed, as to who decides when affirmative action programs start and stop. I think the reason that affirmative action hasn't taken place in more settings is because it threatens the white men who are in power across these institutions. Furthermore who and what decides when underrepresented minorities have reached a point of equality. These are just some things that I thought about while reading your post. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! I think for the most part you raise some really important points. For example, the question of the reach of affirmative action will remain no matter how successful or unsuccessful the program is. It is almost impossible to tell when certain minority groups have reached a point of equality, as this is subjective and open to opinion. I'll try to explore more into these discussion points in later blogs.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the point that affirmative action is based on equity in the workplace. Meaning that just because you have an “ethnic” sounding name, or are a woman this does not prevent you from getting the job, you are just as qualified for in comparison to say a white male.
I think that quotas are an interesting topic because it is possible that many try to fulfill that quota to get funding or push an agenda to make their workplace seem diverse. I think this also applies to higher education because for example as a Latina at a PWI I was wary of a PWI because I wasn’t comfortable not having people I had things in common. I was supposed to spend the next four years of my life in this place, and I wanted to have people I knew would understand my background, my culture, and just generally have things in common. I know that college is a place to surround yourself with new experiences and such but for me, it was imperative to be able to have still some space where I can relate and talk to people from my same culture, and that also spoke my language. Therefore, I feel as though colleges/universities much like workplaces want to fulfill “quotas” whether the government requires them is a different thing, but they want to be able to appeal to students and want to be called diverse.
Being able to implement affirmative action in the workplace would happen in an ideal world, but I feel as though, people of color are still going to be in disadvantage no matter which laws or programs are put in place, just because the history of oppression, discrimination, and racism this country has. But I do think that it is something that we can start working towards and eventually living in a society in which affirmative action doesn’t even have to be a thing.
Thanks for your response. I agree that affirmative action would be very hard to implement in the workplace due to historical and systematic oppression of people of color. But to combat these societal issues, we have to start searching for answers somewhere. Perhaps it could be the start of something that helped raise public awareness and helped correct a portion of the problem. Hope you enjoyed the post!
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