Affirmative Action Advantages And Disadvantages

Affirmative action served its purpose and is no longer essential.

Definition of affirmative action -- steps an organization takes to actively seek qualified applicants from groups undenepresented in the workforce.
Affirmative action policies were developed to address long histories of discrimination faced by minorities and women. They first emerged from debates over non-discrimination policies in the 1940s and during the Civil Rights Movement. These debates led to federal executive orders requiring non-discrimination in the employment policies of some government agencies and contractors in the 1940s onwards, and to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Affirmative Action Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages
Diversity: We know

Reverse discrimination penalizes those from a non-minority group from employment or promotion even when the non-minority applicant is fully qualified. Another major disadvantage is reverse discrimination can generate a negative social bacldash for an organization. Thus, limiting the qualified desired pool of applicants for employment.
In my experience as a frontline manager have found (at least in my organization) that senior management has a strong sensitive awareness that favors applicants from a minority group. Senior management tends to favor the minority applicant, simply to avoid a potential lawsuit. I have heard it more than once from managers, "I don 't want to testify in comi again", their stance is to take (what they believe to be) the "safe way out" by hiring the minority applicant. I believe until the management is slapped with a Bakke vs Davis law suit, their perspective will go unchanged.
Stigmatization: Affirmative action policies can and does create a stigma that minorities and women obtain positions in a company based on gender, race or ethnicity, rather than

However, I also think that affirmative action "programs" are not feasible for all organizations. For example, an affirmative action policy for a small organization (50 people or less) more than likely would be a financial burden and impracticable to implement. In my opinion unless a small organization is attempting to rectify a discrimination issue an affirmative action program is not watTanted. However, large organizations especially those relying on government contracts an Affirmative Action Policy is walTanted.
I feel that affirmative action encourages people to look at sex, color or race as a factor during the employment or admissions process, when our goal should be to eliminate it. Affirmative action encourages "reverse racism". Reverse racism is when an employer and college admission representative discriminates against individuals from majority groups.
I think that in today 's society in America the issue with racism or sexism is no predominant as it once was. Recent history reflects that a large percentage of minorities are just as educated and qualified professionally as the majority groups. Minorities have served and continue to serve in top management positions across the globe. Look at President Obama