Affirmative Action - Term Paper Example

Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 Economic Status 3 Affirmative Action in Education 4 Employment and Promotions 6 Consequences of Affirmative Action Programs 8 Conclusion 10 References 11 Affirmative Action Introduction From old days there are some sorts of discrimination that have been there in different sectors. Affirmative action is a set of policies and initiatives that aims at eliminating all the past and current discriminations that are based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. These kinds of discriminations have led to rise of many issues that could be easily solved through affirmative action. These policies began in America where they aimed at making African Americans to be full members of United States just like the whites. Despite the elimination of discrimination, affirmative action has received great opposition from some areas. Different countries have different legislations and policies of achieving affirmative action. Despite the opposition, affirmative action has received support from some people. Those who support it mainly aim at promoting social equality such that people are treated fairly on social, political, and economic considerations. The debate that has arisen from the affirmative action has been a strong one. In United States this was debated very much to extend that some polls were taken. Later in 2009 another poll was taken and it revealed that the majority wanted affirmative action to be abolished. In the economic arena there have been many issues of discrimination. There are some changes that affirmative action has brought on the economic considerations (Marzilli, 2004). The Debate The renewed debate on affirmative has led to consideration of some ethical issues. There are some measures that have been taken to settle down the debate. There are different programs that have been set in place to monitor implementation of affirmative action. The programs are based on race, gender, and ethnic background. These are factors that have been observed to disadvantage some individuals while disadvantaging other (Cosson, 2007). There is some common opposition to affirmative action. Many human beings believe that a female can never be equal to a male. In many occasions women have been discriminated against due to such misconceptions that are in the society. Blacks have also been discriminated in many parts of the world. This is more evident in the United States where we have the majority of the nationalists been whites and the minority been blacks (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). To end the long debate on affirmative action, the programs to be set in place should be having some more weight on racial, sexual, and ethnic characteristics that are the main causes of discrimination. Males should be treated the same ways as females, people of different ethnic grounds treated equally and people of different races treated the same way. There are some areas where men have enjoyed some advantages that women have not. This is more prevalent in higher learning, employment, and promotions that are the main economic considerations in any state (Babkina, 2004). Economic Status A study that was carried out in United States revealed that only 68% of black men were likely to be working. This was the smallest proportion when compared to other races. It was also found out that 230 or more Hispanic men, African American men, and Native American were twice likely to be employed as whites in the same continent. It was also found out that the whites were holding over 80% of the big positions in the jobs. African Americans were mainly concentrated on the lower paying and semi-skilled jobs. Although the economy in America was growing gradually in the 1990s, it was observed that the gap between the whites and the Asians continued to be bigger. The economic status of the whites was becoming better while that of the blacks and Asians was growing at a small rate (Cosson, 2007). Considering all races, it was found that only around 30% of the employees were women. Men were the majority with the majority of them been the whites. It was also found out that the highest positions were held by men. The total income of men per annum was almost thrice that of working class women. Sex was considered as a factor that led to discrimination. Women were low earning while men got the huge salaries. Promotions were also common to whites. The working conditions of the whites were better than those of blacks. Black men were irregularly promoted with some of them even been demoted. Most of the resources in the states were owned by whites. Blacks owned the small businesses that were generating less cash. Lastly it was found out that much of manual work was done by blacks (Marzilli, 2004). In other countries it was found that there were similar cases of discrimination on the same grounds. A good example of this was got in south Africa were discrimination was evident in higher learning, employment, and promotions. This was therefore established as a worldwide problem that had to be addressed by enacting suitable programs (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). Affirmative Action in Education Education has been considered as one of the things that can help America to be economically stable. Higher education has been since long faced with issues of discrimination depending on color, sex, and ethical grounds. There are some measures that have been put in place to ensure that all people are given equal opportunities to access higher education and benefit fully from it. Higher education has been set as a tool of fighting poverty in the society and promoting equality. Equality can only be promoted when people are educated since they will be able to use the right criteria to have their issues addressed by the concerned authorities. There are some colleges and universities in US that have banned affirmative action. Students are enrolled in some institutions of higher learning depending on their race, sex, and ethical grounds. These are some of the practices that have led to the endless debate on affirmative action. A good example of a university that banned affirmative action is university of California. Percentage plans were been employed they brought no significant change in the enrollment of students. Reports have showed that the enrollment of blacks and Asians is minimal when it comes to the major courses like medicine and law. From the law schools in California it has been reported that the number of whites is uncountable yet the number of blacks and whites is minimal. Blacks and Asians were mainly enrolled into minor degrees that did not require a lot of skill like courses concerned with arts. There was said to be need of implementing affirmative action before more bans of the same are made. This cannot be achieved without involving all the people in the nation. There is need to involve all parties to ensure that affirmative action is implemented (Babkina, 2004). On education, men have been the major elites in America. Most of the inventions that have been achieved in different fields have been achieved by men. This is evident from old inventions for instance in medicine were we have many of the contributors been men. In the higher learning institutions, the number of women was found to be almost half that of men. This is the same case in other parts of the world. It is also evident from previous reports that men are enrolled for the major degrees like engineering and medicine. Females are enrolled to some minor courses like education. This has led to most of the women in US who are working to be middle class while most of the working men, more so whites, are high class (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). Sex and race are two factors that are highly contributing to inequality in education. Women have been delegated with home duties with many of them missing on higher education. Affirmative education has some programs in place to ensure that education is accessed by all equally regardless of the gender or race. Although it is not easy to implement this due some deep-culture rooted beliefs and practices, it can be done with time (Cosson, 2007). Employment and Promotions The ultimate end of education is employment. With discrimination in education then it is also evident that there will be discrimination in employment. This is the case in America and other parts of the world. The major positions in working places are held by whites. This has been happening since before however with affirmative action it is declining. Despite the role that affirmative action is playing through its programs, there are many cases of discrimination on gender, race and ethnic grounds differences in employment. Most of the managers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers in America are white people. This results from discrimination on race basis in higher education. Whites and blacks hold the minor positions in the working arena. Many of blacks are teachers and assistants in firms. The payment of the whites is very high since they hold the major positions while the payment of blacks and Asians is less due to the positions they hold. If affirmative action can be implemented in higher education then in employment it would be solved automatically (Marzilli, 2004). Promotions are supposed to be done considering some rules like good performance. This is however not the case with promotions in America. Most of the promotions that are made in firms, offices, companies, and even NGOs are done to whites. Whites continue flourishing in good working conditions while African Americans and Asians continue to do a lot of manual work under the whites. Blacks and Asians are rarely promoted. They do a lot of the manual work that is not easy to get promotions. Affirmative actions have some programs that lay down the effective ways to be used in giving promotions. Through the programs, promotions will be done effectively and only where required (Babkina, 2004). In employment it is evident that there is a big gap between females and males. Most of the employed people are men with women having only a small percent. This is case that is not evident in America but in the world at large. There are some countries that have showed a big gap between employed women and employed men. A good example of such countries is South Africa where the gap is unbelievable. The big positions are held by men for instance managers, administrators, lawyers, and physicians while women hold small positions like secretaries and office attendants. This results to low earning among women who are working and men who are working. There are few women in high class with majority of them been middle class. This can be solved by implementing affirmative actions that will end discrimination in higher learning. Programs should be there to ensure that males and females are considered equally in admission to higher learning institutions. Through this, women will be able to secure some major careers like medicine (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). There are some jobs that are believed to be for men only. This is a misconception that has led to employment of more men than women. For instance, many believe that police officers are supposed to be men. This is a misconception that has resulted to a small number of women in some jobs. Another case is that courses and careers that deal with mathematics and science can only be done by men. A good example is in engineering where we have over 90% of the engineers in America been men. Affirmative action has some programs that intend to solve these misconceptions. All that is required in jobs is skill and not manual power. Affirmative action seeks to ensure that women do same tasks that men can perform (Cosson, 2007). Consequences of Affirmative Action Programs There are many affirmative action programs that are all meant to bring in equality regardless of sex, color, or ethical background. There are some outlined consequences of the same programs that have been brought up by different people. Although most of the consequences are opinions, they have been revealed to be true outcomes of the action. There are positive consequences and negative consequences of the same. Some opinions aired have put it that the benefits of the programs are minimal. Though there is need of equality, it cannot be achieved easily since people will not be taken and placed in some positions to bring inequality and yet they do not have the required qualifications. This cannot be used to benefit all since some will have to remain in low status jobs and others in high status jobs. It is clear that the earnings of people in higher positions are not much different from that of people in lower jobs. The fact is that the society misunderstands this due to the respect and status they accord to people in high status jobs (Cosson, 2007). Affirmative action will correct some of the misunderstandings and stereotypes in the society. Many of the misunderstandings and stereotypes are the ones that have led to discrimination. For instance, stereotypes that some jobs can only be performed by men will be addressed by affirmative action programs. Affirmative action has been despised to cause under evaluations of some genuinely earned promotions and achievements. Promotions will always create a lot of suspicion due to affirmative action. Affirmative action has been said to cause the society. There are some traditions and practices that are held by different groups. Affirmative action programs will interfere with such traditions and practices in the society thus causing a big change (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). Affirmative action has been mandated to increase the positions of women I the high class jobs and the number of working women at large. This is however likely to lead to a problem in determine the right percentages. It will also be hard to determine when such actions will need and when they will not be needed. In addition, it will be hard to determine the rate of applying the programs (Babkina, 2004). It should be noted that not all problems of inequality are caused by discrimination. There are other causes of inequality thus they must be identified in order to fight inequality. The affirmative action programs ought to be realistic and to work under calculated moves to ensure that they do not result to more havoc in the society (Tomasson, Crosby & Herzberger, 2001). Conclusion Affirmative action is a set of programs that are likely to bring equality in the society. In the society blacks and women have been discriminated against in many scenes. This has been more evident in America were the population has a good number of whites, African Americans and Asians. Reports that have been written have revealed that a lot of discrimination happens in admission to higher learning institutions and in employment. Men are more favored when it comes to admission in universities and colleges. The major courses are taken by men with only a few been taken by females. This proceeds to employment where men will be highly ranked than women. Affirmative action has programs that are meant to solve this. Discrimination has also been evident in cases where whites are the majority in higher learning institutions with many of them been concentrated on the special ones like schools of law. Blacks and Asians in America do the minor courses. This is the same case when it comes to employment. Affirmative action programs will address this. References Babkina, A.M. (2004). Affirmative action: an annotated bibliography. New Jersey: Nova Publishers. Cosson, M.J. (2007). Affirmative Action. New York: ABDO. Marzilli, A. (2004). Affirmative action. New York: InfoBase Publishing. Tomasson, F.R., Crosby, J.F. & Herzberger, D.S. (2001). Affirmative action: the pros and cons of policy and practice. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More