Affirmative Action, Benefits And Disadvantage

995 Words4 Pages
Affirmative Action is a program of opportunity around the world, especially in America, not a program of discrimination. It has allowed women and other minorities to gain access to higher education and professional jobs. It is a program which has the society more racial aware, and as a result, more equal. Affirmative Action is a policy or program that seeks to redress past discrimination by increasing the opportunities for underrepresented groups, as in employment. The roots of affirmative action in employment lie in a set of Executive Orders that were issued by the U.S. presidents in the 1960s. March 6, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 which created the committee on equal employment opportunity and mandates that federal funds “take affirmative action” to ensure that hiring and employment practices are free of racial bias. Affirmative Action was first implemented under President Johnson’s administration. The Pros of Affirmative Action: Employers use affirmative action in recruiting and hiring practices, personnel policies, and ultimately employment outcomes. President George W. Bush appointed a 21 member bipartisan body called the “Glass Ceiling Commission” in 1994 to validate statistical proof of that racial and gender barriers still exit in corporate America. Here are a couple of facts that they have uncovered: 95 percent of senior managers of Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 companies are men. Of the 95 percent, 97 percent are white. In Fortune 2000 industrial and service companies 5 percent of senior managers are women, and of that, only 5 percent are minority women. Research of these companies also showed that where there are women and minorities in senior positions, their compensation is lower. For example, an African-American men with a professional degrees earns 79 percent of the amount earned by white
Open Document