Office of
Faculty & Staff
Affirmative Action
Surge Building 339
900 University Ave.
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-5604
AffirmativeAction@ucr.edu
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Comparison of Affirmative Action, Equal Employment
Opportunity, and Diversity
Affirmative Action:
- Legally mandated by Federal Law
- Requires employers to engage in special efforts
to recruit and retain traditionally underrepresented classes of employees,
including racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, women, veterans,
individuals with disabilities
- Purpose is to eliminate present effects of
past discrimination.
First established by the federal government in 1965 through an executive
order signed by President Lyndon Johnson, affirmative action
was developed as a means to reach the ultimate goal of equal employment
opportunity.
It consists of special actions in recruitment, hiring, and other
areas
that are designed to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination,
such as the under-representation of minorities and women, and
the employment of veterans and persons with disabilities. The purpose
of affirmative
action is to achieve equal employment opportunity by making up
for past injustices, and overcoming continuing discrimination.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
- Legally mandated by State and Federal Law
- Requires employers to refrain from engaging
in unlawful discrimination in hiring and employment with regard to
all employees, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sex, national
origin, etc.
- Purpose is to protect workers and applicants
from discrimination and provide a remedy to employees who have experienced
unlawful discrimination
A system of employment practices within
an organization under which individuals are not excluded from any
participation,
advancement or benefits because
of their race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, or other factors which cannot lawfully be the
basis for
employment action; an
employment
system in which neither intentional
nor unintentional discrimination operates.
Diversity:
- Not legally mandated
- Broader than ethnicity,
race, and gender
- Inclusive of all groups, including white
males
- Focuses on developing an environment
that maximizes the potential of all employees by valuing
diversity interpersonally and institutionally
- Business necessity given workforce
trends
A comprehensive organizational and managerial
process for developing an environment
that maximizes the potential of all employees by valuing diversity.
To be diverse
means to
be
different
from
one another.
Dimensions of diversity
include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, gender, physical
abilities/qualities,
race,
sexual
orientation,
educational
background, geographic
location, income, marital
status, military experience,
parental
status, religious
beliefs, work experience, and job classification.
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