Affirmative Action In Seattle :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action in SeattlePresent efforts to hoist assentient doing are based on several commonplacemisconceptions. One is that our society, having reached a point of true equality,no longer needs programs that help govern custodyt recruit and hire qualified women,people of color, and persons with disabilities. Unfortunately, there is abundantevidence -- from Census Bureau data and academic studies, to intelligence activity accounts andeveryday experiences -- that we still have a long way to go to achieve equalityof opportunity for all social groups.Another misconception is that affirmative action is based on quotas, andthat, as a offspring, the government is hiring bungling candidates. This viewfundamentally misrepresents the reality of affirmative action in the urban center ofSeattle. The metropoliss affirmative action program does not establish numericalquotas for hiring decisions, nor does it result in the hiring of unqualifiedcandidates on the basis of gender or r ace.What the City of Seattles affirmative action program does is verysimple first, it gives City managers and power officers a snapshot of thelabor market, so that they are aware of the availableness rates for differentgroups for a given descent smorgasbord. Through these availability rates, theCity can determine whether or not women, people of color, or persons withdisabilities are underrepresented in a given job classification inwardly the workforce second, the Citys affirmative action program encourages managers andpersonnel officers to fill special outreach efforts into groups and communitiesthat are underrepresented in our work force, in order to summation the number ofqualified candidates in the potential hiring poolThird, the Citys affirmative action program directs that when there aretwo fully qualified candidates for a given position, preference should be givento the candidate that will counterbalance our work force more reflective of the labor pooland the broader co mmunity. cool off another misconception is that affirmative action fosters "reversediscrimination" by self-aggrandizing minority candidates an unfair advantage over whitecandidates. However, a modern statewide study of affirmative action practicesconcluded that "whites are the immemorial beneficiaries of affirmative actionprograms affecting hiring -- this includes large numbers of white men as well aswhite women."It is also important to invoice that once the work force of a certain jobclassification within a particular City department reaches the point where itreflects the innovation of the available labor pool, affirmative action effortsare terminated for those job classifications. Affirmative action is onlyutilized for job classifications where women, people of color, and persons withdisabilities are underrepresented within the work force.This overall approach has served Seattle well. It has provided a