Audience: The designated audience for this paper is a group of listeners who do not agree that Affirmative Action plans an important role, or functions as an important guideline, for the American workplace.
Message: The message that will be delivered to the audience is that Affirmative Action has substantially shaped the American job market, and continues to play a significant role today.
Purpose: To persuade the audience that Affirmative Action is important, and remains relevant, or at least convince the audience that the perspective that I argue from has merit.
Introduction:
Affirmative action is a law that was passed as a direct result of the Civil Right’s movement of the American 1960s. The law is designed to improve the opportunities provided to members of minority communities, in the local workforce, or to create a better balance of opportunities for all of those seeking work (National Conference of State Legislatures 1). It provides protection, under the law, for equal access to education, and equality in policy’s and hiring practices in the workplace. Affirmative Action has, as a result, markedly shaped the American job market, and continues to play a significant role in shaping education and employment today.
Background:
The term Affirmative Action was first used by President Kennedy, and was only used, by Executive Order, to ensure the equal treatment of government contracted employees. However, the wording of that Order was significant in the development of the larger law. The order read that affirmative action would be taken to “ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (National Conference of State Legislatures 1)Further, while it is commonly thought of as referencing African American rights in this country, it has since been expanded to protect the rights of those belonging to a religious minority, sexual preference related minority, and women.
Effect:
There is no denying that these protections have had a positive impact on the nature of both education and employment in the US. In short, by increasing diversity, the overall effectiveness of both the University and the workplace environment have been greatly enhanced.
Pursuing a Tertiary education was once a reality for, almost exclusively, white males. Today, however, there is a great amount of diversity on American campuses. The implementation of Affirmative Action in the University setting has resulted in a 200 to 300% increase in minority applications (National Conference of State Legislatures 1). Similarly, a recent study of the scientific field found that Affirmative Action had significantly increased the number of women that were applying to scientific jobs, and that hiring highly qualified women has had a significant positive effect on the workplace environment, and outcomes in the scientific field (Balafoutas & Sutter 579).
While some would argue that he need for Affirmative Action is out of date, and should be eliminated in the modern work and school environments, evidence shows that it is still extremely important, and that abolishment would have detrimental effects in both settings. A study by UC Berkley found that when California abolished Affirmative Action in that state, the enrollment of minority students fell by 61 percent in a single year (National Conference of State Legislatures 1). Further, Stutter said of his work that "Without intervention the number of women willing to compete was only half the number of men. In three of the other four treatments the frequency of competing women is significantly higher, whereas there was no significant effect for men (Phys.org, 1)." In short, the correlation between increased diversification, and the continued enforcement of Affirmative Action.
It is clear that without Affirmative Action, diversity in both the educational and employment sectors would regress to pre-Affirmative action woes, and the benefits of diversification would be lost.. It provides protection, under the law, for equal access to education, and equality in policy’s and hiring practices in the workplace. As such, Affirmative Action has the American job market, and continues to play a significant role in education and employment today.
Works Cited:
Balafoutas, L., and M. Sutter. "Affirmative Action Policies Promote Women and Do Not Harm Efficiency in the Laboratory." Science 335.6068 (2012): 579-82. Web.
National Conference of State Legislature. “Affirmative Action.” Research and Education. 7 Febuary 2014. Web. 09 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-overview.aspx
PHYS.ORG. “Scientists show positive effects of affirmative action policies promoting women.” Economics and Business of Science. 02 February 2012. Web. 09 June 2015. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news/2012-02-scientists-positive-effects-affirmative-action.html
