Affirmative Action

Affirmative action refers to deliberate efforts, voluntary as well as mandatory, to recruit and hire or admit employees or students from historically [Page 57]marginalized backgrounds (women and racial/ethnic minority groups, such as African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos) in private and public employment as well as in higher education. Affirmative action was originally designed as a system of policies to remedy those effects of past discrimination that have lingered into the present. Since its implementation in the late 1960s and early 1970s, affirmative action has come under criticism and emerged as one of the most emotional and divisive social issues in American society. Supporters of affirmative action maintain that such measures are necessary to ensure a diverse workforce and student body that reflect the multicultural ...