Affirmative Action: Justified or Unwarranted?

Jack and Diane are both called in for an interview. The personnel officer notes that both seem intelligent, hard working, and in need of the job. Because of Jack’s experience in advertising and higher grade point average, he ranks slightly higher than Diane.

Who gets the job? That depends on the company they are interviewing with. In the past Jack would have received the job right away, regardless of rating. Two main reasons being because Diane is a woman, and because she is black. Until recently the firm wouldn’t have even considered hiring her, except possibly for a clerical

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If these quotas are not met, the company may be stripped of all federal grants that would have previously been awarded to it (33). How can a schools admissions office, which is trying to increase diversity, come up with the answers to the obvious question?

Supporters say that admissions officers must look at other factors then test scores to avoid reverse discrimination.

In an analysis of complete loss or gain, it was shown that the selection of poor personnel could cost a company paying an average of $13,000 per year, a loss of $5,000 per poor worker (5). Diane may be hired for the very same reasons she was rejected in the past even though Jack’s application looked better.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) heads the investigations over affirmative action on the federal level. They meticulously study the percentage of available minority workers in the area, and compare that number to the percentage of minority workers in the company’s history (25). Some schools are more research minded, while others institute a more applied curriculum. The public was skeptical, and didn’t know what it meant. Of the workers who were hired after the program was in place, turn over rate was down 29%(Taylor 74). To address this, the company has implemented a plan to increase its number of minorities in its advertising division. Others may be instituted by court order, and yet others are put into place to satisfy the demands of the government (Woods 10).

In 1964, The civil rights act was enacted. The benefits that one group receives snowball to another group and from there on everyone benefits (Summit). Unlike Kennedy’s presidential order, This act was accepted and passed by the government. Some say that the answer to these questions is in the test scores.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 2767
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

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