Editing Affirmative action (section)

{{Short description|Policies aiming to increase inclusion of people from marginalized groups}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{discrimination sidebar|Countermeasures}}
'''Affirmative action''' (also sometimes called '''reservations''', '''alternative access''', '''positive discrimination''' or '''positive action''' in various countries' laws and policies){{efn|Attributed to multiple references: <ref>{{cite web |last1=Jarrett |first1=Tim |date=24 October 2011 |title=The Equality Act 2010 and positive action |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06093/SN06093.pdf |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=positive discrimination |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/positive-discrimination?q=positive+discrimination |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223185155/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/positive-discrimination?q=positive+discrimination |archive-date=23 February 2014 |access-date=13 February 2014 |work=Oxford Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web |title=affirmative action |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/affirmative-action?q=affirmative+action |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223185154/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/affirmative-action?q=affirmative+action |archive-date=23 February 2014 |access-date=13 February 2014 |work=Oxford Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>"positive, adj. and n." ''OED Online''. Oxford University Press, March 2023. Web. 6 May 2023.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Jenkins |first1=Laura Dudley |last2=Moses |first2=Michele S. |date=2017-08-08 |title=Affirmative action around the world |url=http://theconversation.com/affirmative-action-around-the-world-82190 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Reservation Is About Adequate Representation, Not Poverty Eradication |url=https://thewire.in/law/supreme-court-bench-reservation |first1=Kailash |last1=Jeenger |date=May 18, 2020 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=UNESCO IIEP |date=2021 |title=Flexible learning pathways in Finnish higher education |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377999 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=UNESCO |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422022209/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_61197fa5-8e7f-4752-879b-cf841bf74dcc?_=377999eng.pdf&to=15&from=1 |archive-date= Apr 22, 2024 }}</ref>}} refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to address systemic discrimination. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has been justified by the idea that it may help with bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, and promoting [[diversity (politics)|diversity]], [[social equity]], and [[social inclusion]] and redressing wrongs, harms, or hindrances, also called [[substantive equality]].<ref name=twsL13>{{citation|author1=Nicole Richardt |author2=Torrey Shanks |title= Equal Opportunity|publisher= International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences  |via=Encyclopedia.com|year= 2008|url= http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Equal_Opportunity.aspx|access-date= 2011-09-12}}</ref>

The nature of affirmative-action policies varies from region to region and exists on a spectrum from a hard quota to merely targeting encouragement for increased participation. Some countries use a [[Quotaism|quota system]], reserving a certain percentage of government jobs, political positions, and school vacancies for members of a certain group; an example of this is the [[Reservation in India|reservation system in India]]. In some other jurisdictions where quotas are not used, minority-group members are given preference or special consideration in selection processes. [[Affirmative action in the United States|In the United States]], affirmative action by executive order originally meant selection without regard to race but preferential treatment was widely used in college admissions, as upheld in the 2003 [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] case ''[[Grutter v. Bollinger]]'', until 2023, when this was overturned in ''[[Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard]].''<ref name="SFFA">{{cite court|litigants=[[Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College]]|vol=600|reporter=U.S.|opinion=___|date=2023|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf}}</ref>

A variant of affirmative action more common in Europe is known as [[positive action]], wherein equal opportunity is promoted by encouraging underrepresented groups into a field. This is often described as being "[[Racial color blindness|color blind]]", but some American sociologists have argued that this is insufficient to achieve [[substantive equality]] of outcomes based on race.<ref>{{cite book |title=Racism Without Racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States |last=Bonilla-Silva |first=Eduardo |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-2055-3 |edition=4th |pages=101–102}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Gallagher, Charles A.|date=2003 |title=Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post Race America|journal=Race, Gender & Class|volume=10|issue=4|pages=22–37|jstor=41675099}}</ref>

In the United States, affirmative action is controversial<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Stanford University |title=Affirmative Action |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ |access-date=30 October 2022 |quote=When [affirmative-action] steps involve ''preferential'' selection—selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity—affirmative action generates intense controversy. |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |orig-date=Dec 28, 2001 |date=Apr 9, 2018 |first1=Robert |last1=Fullinwider |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220312183751/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ |archive-date= 12 March 2022 }}</ref> and [[public opinion]] on the subject is divided. Supporters of affirmative action argue that it promotes [[substantive equality]] for group outcomes and representation for groups, which are socio-economically disadvantaged or have faced historical discrimination or oppression.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gururaj |first1=Suchitra |last2=Somers |first2=Patricia |last3=Fry |first3=Jessica |last4=Watson |first4=Del |last5=Cicero |first5=Francesca |last6=Morosini |first6=Marilia |last7=Zamora |first7=Jennifer |title=Affirmative action policy: Inclusion, exclusion, and the global public good |journal=Policy Futures in Education |date=January 2021 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=63–83 |doi=10.1177/1478210320940139 |hdl=10923/19826 |s2cid=225376002 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy">{{cite web |publisher=Stanford University |title=Affirmative Action |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ |access-date=30 October 2022 |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |orig-date=Dec 28, 2001 |date=Apr 9, 2018 |first1=Robert |last1=Fullinwider |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220312183751/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ |archive-date= 12 March 2022 }}</ref> Opponents of affirmative action have argued that it is a form of [[reverse discrimination]],<ref name=":2" /> that it tends to benefit the most privileged within minority groups at the expense of the least fortunate within majority groups,<ref name=":3" /> or that—when applied to universities—it can hinder minority students by placing them in courses for which they have not been adequately prepared.<ref name="auto" />