@NNewt84 Said 
Okay, so what
is AA, then?
Depends on which kind you mean. There is a general outline for the use of Affirmative Action that is written out in Federal Law
here that gives a very basic idea on how Affirmative Action should work from the federal perspective. Then there is the more murkier use of affirmative action in actual practice that can vary wildly from company to company.
Federal Affirmative Action is basically outlined to be a more proactive stance on non-discrimination policy. Whereas non-discrimination policy dictates that discrimination against people on a multitude of factors for hiring purposes will not be tolerated, it does not address the fact that the "average" (aka. the statistical "norm" if you will) minority such as an African or Native American would inherently have less opportunities for multiple things simply due to past cultural norms or, in some cases, past government and private sector policies. Federal Affirmative Action aims to correct these problems from the past in a way that is meant to be non-discriminatory.
Federal Affirmative Action's goal is one thing, and that is to give disadvantaged people who were made so through past policies and cultural norms, a chance to get back on equal footing with those who haven't. This is achieved though the use of things like outreach programs and training programs in order to give those people the skills and resources they need in order to compete with other non-disadvantaged people in an equal setting. That is it. Federal Affirmative Action does not support and discourages the use of things such as quotas to achieve this end, though some companies might choose to ignore such discouragement.
Jul 07, 2015 @ 07:50:26
