What is Affirmative Action?
The purpose of affirmative action is to achieve equal opportunity in the workplace.
Affirmative action is a program of positive efforts to identify and remove all barriers to equal employment opportunity. The concept of affirmative action recognizes that simply saying "don't discriminate" isn't enough to overcome the systemic, institutional effects of historic and continuing discrimination. Affirmative action programs thus seek to even the playing field by actively removing historic preferences and barriers to true equal opportunity.
To whom does Affirmative Action apply?
Affirmative action applies to groups that have experienced and continue to experience employment discrimination:
- American Indian or Alaskan Native
- Asian
- Black or African American
- Hispanic or Latino
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- Women
- Persons with Disabilities
- Special disabled veterans and Vietnam era veterans.
How does the University of Wisconsin-Extension promote affirmative action and equal opportunity?
- Recruitment of a diverse work force
- On-going review and evaluation of the hiring process: job descriptions, examinations, and selection
- Pre-employment review, at the division level, of all hiring decisions to ensure fair employment practices
- Monitoring of promotional opportunities for equal access
- Implementing programs and opportunities such as diversity awareness and leadership training, the Summer Affirmative Action Internship Program equal opportunity, affirmative action and sexual harassment awareness training, Americans with Disabilities Act training
- Adherence to procedures for fairly investigating and resolving employee complaints of discrimination and harassment
- Development of specific affirmative action labor force goals and hiring objectives
