Define affirmative action. write its one advantage and one disadvantage.
Answers
Answer:
Affirmative action, also known as “positive discrimination,” is a government policy that is designed to help minorities and disadvantaged groups in finding employment, getting admissions at universities, and obtaining housing. The policy was originally created to offer disadvantaged groups a boost and increase diversity in communities, the workplace, and learning institutions.
Affirmative Action – Advantages
1. Climbing the socioeconomic ladder
An individual’s or a family’s socioeconomic status is typically divided into three levels: high, middle, and low, and is determined by their income, education, and occupational status. By giving minorities and disadvantaged groups an equal opportunity to attain education and employment, the policy increases their chances of climbing up the socioeconomic ladder.
Affirmative Action – Disadvantages
1. Reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is the notion that instead of promoting anti-discrimination, affirmative action leads to discrimination against individuals and groups that come from non-disadvantaged backgrounds. Talented individuals may not be given equal opportunities simply because they are not part of a minority group. It may also result in hatred between majority and minority groups.
Explanation:
Affirmative action, also known as “positive discrimination,” is a government policy that is designed to help minorities and disadvantaged groups in finding employment, getting admissions at universities, and obtaining housing. The policy was originally created to offer disadvantaged groups a boost and increase diversity in communities, the workplace, and learning institutions.
Affirmative Action – Advantages
1. Climbing the socioeconomic ladder
An individual’s or a family’s socioeconomic status is typically divided into three levels: high, middle, and low, and is determined by their income, education, and occupational status. By giving minorities and disadvantaged groups an equal opportunity to attain education and employment, the policy increases their chances of climbing up the socioeconomic ladder.
2. Boosting the education of disadvantaged students
Disadvantaged families often fall into development and poverty traps if they do not have access to higher education and/or if they cannot afford it. By providing grants and scholarships that are meant for students from disadvantaged groups (e.g., scholarships meant for students of indigenous origin in Canada), affirmative action boosts the education of the students – which has potentially positive future outcomes related to income, health, and socioeconomic status.
3. Promoting education and work on a communal level
Affirmative action promotes education in society by encouraging women and other previously oppressed groups to attend university and offering them equal opportunities and pay, regardless of gender or race. It results in the overall growth and development of human capital in the economy, along with potentially higher standards of living and per capita income.
Affirmative Action – Disadvantages
1. Reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is the notion that instead of promoting anti-discrimination, affirmative action leads to discrimination against individuals and groups that come from non-disadvantaged backgrounds. Talented individuals may not be given equal opportunities simply because they are not part of a minority group. It may also result in hatred between majority and minority groups.
2. Lack of meritocracy
Meritocracy is an important system that aims to push more capable individuals to places of higher education so that they may have the resources and knowledge required to make important changes in the world. By encouraging universities to admit more students of a particular race, nationality, or gender, affirmative action may be discouraging meritocracy in educational institutions.
3. Demeaning true achievement
Achievements by individuals from minority groups and other disadvantaged groups may be considered a result of affirmative action rather than their own hard work, which can be demeaning to their true level of effort and confidence in their abilities.
For example, an indigenous student who just graduated with a law degree may be looked at as someone that took advantage of the policy to get there, instead of someone that worked harder than others to get there.