Topic
Affirmative Action on Equal Opportunities
Instructions
Affirmative Action is closely linked in many people’s minds with Equal Opportunity. Do you know what the difference is? Read:
Willis, P. 2012, ‘Witnesses on the periphery: Young lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer employees witnessing homophobic exchanges in Australian workplaces’, Human Relations, 65(12), 1589-1610.
You can also view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Affirmative Action: Crash Course Government and Politics #32 (7:13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Women in Politics: How effective are gender quotas? (2:53)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Wendy Bryan-Clothier: NSW Health (3:35)
Affirmative Action, also known Australia in as ‘special measures’, is a strategy designed to address historical discriminations suffered by minority groups. However, some people consider these measures to be a type of ‘reverse discrimination’, or counter-productive to equality of opportunity. What do you think and why?
Answer preview
Affirmative action or “special measures” is a policy initiative that the government uses to close the gap that exists amid the minority and the majority in the society, as well as right the wrongs of historical injustice (CrashCourse.,). However, affirmative action is a controversial issue because even though the same may be aimed at increasing opportunities to individuals that have been rejected by society by offering equal education and employment opportunities, some of these objectives have not been met (Dulleck et at., 67). For instance, women are expected to have one-third representation in a company or even in the government offices (Sawer, 3).
Word count: 445