The pros and cons of affirmative action programmes

The Equality Act 2010 permits employers to take positive, or affirmative action in making decisions related to employment. Affirmative action can be defined as policies that take factors such as race, gender, age and sexual orientation into consideration in order to benefit an under-represented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.

History and indirect or unconscious discrimination

To a varying extent, most countries historically have had overtly discriminatory practices (e.g. slavery, denying women the right to vote) which, while they may be in the past now, still have an impact. Discrimination can also happen indirectly (e.g. mothers are discriminated against by work that demands out of hours availability, because they still tend to assume the bulk of childcare responsibilities) or unconsciously (e.g. some people who don’t consider themselves racist, may have deep-seated, even unconscious views that lead them to believe that black people are less capable or intelligent than those of other races).

Positive points

Pro-affirmative action pundits assert that being conscious of previous disadvantages and the unique situations of other groups, is necessary in order to guarantee a level playing field for everyone. Since bias exists in society, behaving as if all is equal will perpetuate the unfairness. Supporters believe that affirmative action is one route to this, having potential to: - Correct employment and pay inequalities; - Increase access to and performance in education; - Enrich society by facilitating full participation of all; - Redressing past wrongs.

Negative points

Opponents are anti-affirmative action because they insist that it is simply another form of discrimination, this time favouring ‘victims’. They argue that affirmative action laws and policies have a reverse effect to redressing wrongs in the society, because they: - Only value groups (race, gender, etc.) rather than individuals; - Devalues the accomplishments of those it purports to help, because it can never be clear whether the achievements were earned or given; - Hinders reconciliation by creating resentment in other groups; - Encourages people to define themselves as disadvantaged, even if they aren’t; -Tend to work in favour of groups who are relatively better off (e.g. a middle class black man) and ignores those who have experienced more severe discrimination (e.g. poor white single mothers) In essence, the concern is that affirmative action programmes give sectors of society a handicap on the economic or social playing field, reduce the incentives of both the preferred and non-preferred to perform at their best, either because they think that they can coast on their disadvantaged status, or because they think that there is little point performing if they will be overlooked anyway. Of course, if this is correct, then affirmative action does not benefit the society.