affirmative action

affirmative action
noun
a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities
-

affirmative action has been extremely controversial and was challenged in 1978 in the Bakke decision

• Hypernyms: ↑social action

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noun [noncount]
chiefly US : the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc. — called also (Brit) positive discrimination

* * *

afˌfirmative ˈaction [affirmative action] (especially NAmE) (BrE usually ˌpositive disˌcriminˈation) noun uncountable
the practice or policy of making sure that a particular number of jobs, etc. are given to people from groups that are often treated unfairly because of their race, sex, etc.
See also: ↑positive discrimination  
Culture:
Americans are divided about the US government policy of affirmative action and often say it is ‘reverse discrimination’. It has existed since the 1960s, but the ↑Supreme Court has since decided against strict quotas (= numbers of people) and forcing affirmative action on private businesses. The more informal practice in Britain is sometimes known as ‘positive discrimination’.
See also ↑Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, See also ↑Equal Opportunities Commission
.  
Example Bank:

•

The City Council implemented the affirmative action hiring plan in response to critics' charges that the police department did not reflect the city's racial makeup.


Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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  • Affirmative Action — oder auch positive Diskriminierung [1] bezeichnet institutionalisierte Maßnahmen, die soziale Diskriminierung im Sinne einer Benachteiligung von Gruppen durch Vorteile für diese Gruppe verhindern oder vermindern sollen. Maßnahmen der Affirmative… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Affirmative action — bezeichnet institutionalisierte Maßnahmen, die soziale Diskriminierung im Sinne einer Gruppenbenachteiligung verhindern oder vermindern soll. Für den Zusammenhang sind unterschiedliche deutschsprachige Bezeichnungen gebräuchlich, keine davon… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • affirmative action — affirmative action, adj. the encouragement of increased representation of women and minority group members, esp. in employment. [1960 65] * * * In the U.S., the effort to improve the employment and educational opportunities of women and members… …   Universalium

  • affirmative action — n: an active effort (as through legislation) to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups or women Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. affirmative action …   Law dictionary

  • affirmative action — affirmative ac‧tion ➔ action * * * affirmative action UK US noun [U] US HR, LAW ► POSITIVE ACTION(Cf. ↑positive action) …   Financial and business terms

  • affirmative action — n. 1. a policy of making active efforts to improve the employment or educational opportunities available to members of minority groups or women; achieved by employers or schools by using various techniques, but excluding the use of simple quotas… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • affirmative action — (izg. èfirmativ èkšn) DEFINICIJA afirmativna akcija, v. afirmativan …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • affirmative action — [n] equal rights policy anti discrimination, equal opportunity, fair hiring, fair treatment, quota system, reverse discrimination; concepts 388,645,667 …   New thesaurus

  • affirmative action — ☆ affirmative action n. a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups, as women, blacks, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Affirmative action — For the history and implementation of affirmative action in the U.S., see Affirmative action in the United States. Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national… …   Wikipedia

  • Affirmative Action — Discrimination positive aux États Unis La discrimination positive aux Etats Unis (« affirmative action ») a été mise en place lors de la lutte pour les droits civiques et l abolition de la ségrégation raciale. Depuis le début des années …   Wikipédia en Français

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