Though there are different definitions of affirmative action, the underlying idea is more or less the same in most situations. According to the Minnesota department of human rights (n.d), affirmative action plans consist of goal-oriented management policies that help in ensuring minimum barriers exist in the pursuit of employment opportunities for special groups in the population including minorities, women, and disabled persons.
Affirmative action plans put in place practices and programs that help in identifying deficiencies and discrepancies in different areas of equal employment. According to MIT human resources (n.d), affirmative action plans contain several aspects that help them in diagnosing equality in employment. The diagnostic component in affirmative action plans has various qualitative analyses that help in evaluating workforce compositions to determine whether or not labor pools are balanced or not. Furthermore, the plans are also action-oriented programs that address a situation that is perceived as unbalanced.
Many scholars agree that affirmative action is both a moral and political question that elicits different opinions among the public. Morality arguments stem from the varying opinions of pro and anti-affirmative action groups. The above assertion brings forth two schools of thought concerning ethics and affirmative action. Some people feel that affirmative action is ethical in that it helps in rectifying injustices caused by especially racial and gender discrimination. On the other hand, there are those people who feel affirmative action is just another form of discrimination that extends to one group’s extra advantages based on race and/or gender.
Given that ethics concerns itself with what is right and/or wrong, this discussion will focus on the extent to which affirmative action plans are moral. In essence, the assertion that affirmative action plans are ethical is to imply that they are necessary and what they advocate for is right. As earlier said, affirmative action is more of an ethical than a legal issue. Because it is an ethical issue, this paper will tackle the question of whether it increases fairness in processes concerned with access to opportunities e.g., in education and employment.
Affirmative action plans are ethical because they help in the fair evaluation of people seeking opportunities. According to State University (n.d), affirmative action helps in increasing job and education opportunities among the marginalized people in the world. Based on the common belief in equality among human beings, promotion of the rights of the underrepresented is the right thing to do, effectively, therefore, affirmative action is the right thing to do.
It is common knowledge that a diverse environment functions better than one that is dominated by people of the same background. State University (n.d) further asserts that human beings’ lives are far much better when diversity is enhanced. Given that affirmative action fronts for ideas of enhancing diversity in both the working and learning places, it is, therefore, fair to conclude that affirmative action plans are ethical.
One of the main motivations of affirmative action plans according to the freeman (n.d) is the balanced representation of people in various situations of life. Many people agree that it is only fair that all people are represented at all levels of life. Ethics demand fair representation on the basis that community resources will be shared equally when people are represented well. Therefore, affirmative action plans do the right thing when they seek the equal representation of all people.
References
MIT Human resource. (n.d). What is an Affirmative Action Plan? Web.
Minnesota Department of Human Rights. (n.d). Affirmative Action Plan. Web.
State University. (n.d). Arguments For and Against Affirmative Action. Web.
The Freeman. (n.d). The Ethics of Affirmative Action. Web.