HN347: UNIT 9

Affirmative Action,

Diversity & Gender Issues

UNIT 9 KEY TERMS

EEOC – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This federal government entity is charged with investigating complaints of discrimination by workers. The name of the specific agency that provides this function varies by state.

Affirmative Action – “a process in which employers identify underutilization of protected groups, determine availability in the relevant labor force market, and set hiring targets” (Buford & Lindner, 2002, currently p. 461)

PROACTIVE APPROACH Ultimately began in the 1960’s with President

Kennedy Kennedy’s program placed a substantial new

burden or obligation on federal agencies. Earlier efforts were focused primarily on

prohibiting federal employers from engaging in discriminatory behavior.

Another major development in the growth of EEO law and affirmative action was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 in Griggs v. Duke Power Company. In that case, the Court unanimously ruled that

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act proscribed not only intentional discrimination but also actions that were “fair in form, but discriminatory in operation.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ISSUES

In the context of government affirmative action, this redistribution of opportunity involves highly valued jobs.

The stakes are high, and outcomes can be extremely important for people on both sides of the issue.

Affirmative action involving the use of limited preferences is more vulnerable to criticism than other approaches such as recruitment or outreach.

GENDER ISSUES & THE WORKPLACE Embedded Pathways: Roles in the home carry

over to gender roles in the organization. Women and men who behave in traditional gender roles are the norm.

Job Segregation: most workers work primarily with members of their own gender. Whether by personal preference, tradition, discomfort in a job that is dominated by the opposite sex, or intentional “lockout” from jobs not thought appropriate for one’s gender.

Gendered Jobs/Gendered Wages: According to 2004 data, women who work in public administration earn about 76 percent of what men earn. This is about 4 percent lower than the average wage differential across all occupations, which is 80 percent

GENDER ISSUES… Emotion in the Workplace: The ability to evoke

and display emotions one does not actually feel, to sense the affect of the other and alter one’s own affect accordingly, and to elicit the desired emotional response from the other.

Education: Women workers do not have as much education as men. In the past forty years women are achieving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in increasing numbers.

Workplaces Designed for Men but made for Women: The standard full-time workweek was arbitrarily defined as forty hours, and benefits packages, designed for men to support their families, were attached to full-time jobs to aid in recruitment and retention. Concerns about workers’ family obligations were not the employer’s concern.

OTHER ISSUES: Balancing Family & Work

Part-Time Schedules

Flexible Schedules

Expanded Concepts of Paid Leave

Benefits

Childcare

Eldercare

Work/Life Specialists

DUE: Tuesday, April 5th

Develop a “white paper,” or essay focused on solutions to recognized problems. • Pick 2 of the most pressing issues in your local

community that you outlined in your memo in Unit 3. • Then identify 2 to 3 strategies to address each issue,

analyzing the potential solution by discussing the pros and cons of each suggestion and the ethical issues related to each option.  

• Recommend one of the strategies for each issue, justifying your choice.

• Discuss how you will address ethical issues related to your recommendations.

Your project should be 5–7 pages of text APA title page and a reference page, and should be double-

spaced in 12-point font.   Make sure to review the grading rubric for complete

information.

CONTACT INFORMATION If you have any questions please contact me:

Melanie Beath beath@kaplan.edu or call 515-480-9034.