Affirmative Action

Affirmative action also called positive discrimination is the policy of favoring members of a

disadvantaged group who are perceived to suffer from discrimination within a culture. The
nature of positive discrimination policies is different from country to country. Some countries,
such as India, use a quota system, whereby a certain percentage of jobs or school vacancies must
be set aside for members of a certain group. In some other regions, specific quotas do not exist;
instead, members of minorities are given preference in selection processes. Caste based quotas
are used in Reservation. However, they are illegal in Western countries where no employer,
college, or other entity may create a set number required for each race
In 2012, the European Union Commission approved a plan for women to be 40% of non-
executive board directorships in large listed companies in Europe by the year 2020. In Sweden,
the Supreme Court has ruled that "affirmative action" ethnic quotas in universities are
discrimination and therefore unlawful. It said that the requirements for the intake should be the
same for all. The Justice Chancellor said that the decision left no room for ambiguity. In some
countries which have laws on racial equality, affirmative action is considered illegal because it
does not treat all races equally. This approach of equal treatment is sometimes described as being
"color blind", in hopes that it is effective against discrimination without engaging in reverse
discrimination..
Unzueta et al. in their study of how believing in affirmative action quotas affects White women's
self-image showed that white women who do not think affirmative action benefits personally
may derive a self-image benefit from believing that affirmative action entails quotas. Such belief
may enable White women to believe that their past achievements were attained despite the
influence of discriminatory quota policies while their past failures occurred because of such
policies. Those who were led to believe that affirmative action entails quotas reported higher
state self-esteem relative to those who were informed that affirmation action does not entail this
controversial procedure. White women's self-image can benefit from affirmative action quota
beliefs so long as they do not think of themselves as beneficiaries of such a policy.
But those who are beneficiaries may become motivated to protect their self-image when
presented with descriptions of affirmative action that threaten to discount their competence. In
such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted
advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This is
sometimes described as "positive action. The principle of affirmative action is to promote
societal equality through the special treatment of socioeconomically disadvantaged people.
Often, these people are disadvantaged for historical reasons, such as oppression or slavery.
Keywords: Affirmative Action
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