Analysis of Diversity and Inclusion

The provided assignment is a collection of academic papers and articles that discuss diverse topics related to diversity and inclusion. The papers explore the impact of gender diversity on business teams, affirmative action, and intersectional politics. They also examine the role of diversity in improving productivity and the challenges faced by racialized immigrant women in precarious work situations. The assignment aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of diversity and inclusion in various contexts.

Running head: IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Introduction
Affirmative action is referred to the procedures undertaken with the aim of protecting
the minority communities—especially the people of color, women, transgender, aboriginals
and many more. The dawn of Affirmative Action in US was seen in the 1960s with the main
motive to fight discrimination based on race and skin color, as well as discrimination based
on sex and gender (Ma & Schapira, 2017). History of intolerance and slavery subjected
towards Native Americans were one of the earliest ways of oppression based on race and skin
color leading to the modern day issues of increasing economic and health disparity amongst
the various classes of the society.
Even though the views regarding racism have changed over time, yet the subverted
practices of discrimination remain internalized in the normative narrative. In general, a non-
white individual’s access to services and privileges are extremely limited in a white-
dominated society; similarly, discriminations based on gender, race and religion also help in
enhancing class disparities (Malloy, 2014). Therefore, affirmative action or policies that
safeguard the basic human rights and necessities of the powerless minority communities have
a huge impact on various aspects of civil society and has the capability to influence the
normative colonial discriminatory mindset towards the minorities.
Impact of Affirmative Action on Recruiting
Taking into consideration the employment scenario in US, affirmative action has
significantly helped in improving participation of women and other minority communities in
the daily workforce of the country. One of the main motives of affirmative action, also
known as ‘quota’, is to empower women and other minority communities by allowing them
special privileges as against their powerful white-male counterparts. According to (Park &

2IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Liu, 2014), the legal frameworks of affirmative action control the discriminatory practices
that pre-exist in the system and allow certain benefits to the minorities, so as to empower
them and encourage them to join the work force.
Affirmative action helps the minority communities to have an access to diverse
employment facilities that are available in the employment market (Karavdic & Limbach-
Reich, 2017). It diminishes the difference between employment privileges enjoyed by the
elite, white communities and the minority communities as well as women. It provides
protected classification to specific minority communities and reserves representation from
each group, so as to include their specific needs in employment sector. The chief federal
classifications, to protect the recruitment of minorities, come under race, nationality, age,
gender, skin color, disability, sexual orientation, mental disorders, and many more.
Appropriate affirmative action can be carried out only with the aim to rectify the
disparities caused due to discrimination in the workforce; using the reservation to further
enhance the discrimination would be a failure at implementing affirmative action.
Preferencial Hiring or Exclusive Admissions for the minorities could help reduce the
discrimination by empowering the abandoned groups and communities, as opposed to
preferencial hiring for the privileged communities (Meshelski, 2016). Appropriate affirmative
action help in promoting diversity and makes a work force multi-culturally competent.
Impact of Affirmative Action on Training
The regulations for Affirmative Action have considerable influences over almost all
spheres of workforce management (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Effectiveness of training
programs can be measured with the proper decision-making skills that help in strategizing the
management of a multi-cultural workforce. Access to professional training services by
professional trainers has multiple benefits like, gaining first-hand knowledge from

3IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
professional legal advisors, understanding the necessity and practical impacts of amendments
in legal structures, enhancing productivity by providing an in-depth insight to the
organizational structure and needs of an institution, and many more.
Considering the current socio-economic-political structures of US, the vast inequity
amongst the various classes and groups of the society keep a major section of the population
excluded from the main workforces—due to lack of experience, knowledge and training
facilities (Karas, 2015). The privileged white population heavily dominates the total
workforce of America, excluding the minority communities from contributing to the gross
domestic income. Lack of expertise and knowledge amongst the minorities including women
drastically reduce their competence in the global employment force. Therefore, special
training is necessary exclusively for the minorities in order to empower them with in-depth
knowledge and skill so that they can be equally competent and productive.
Affirmative Action Training is an important strategic tool that imparts crucial
knowledge and information regarding the efficient functioning of a culturally inclusive
workplace (Verloo, 2013). Compliance of Company policies with the fundamentals of
Affirmative Action Plan has abundant influences on the effectiveness and efficiency of
management strategies. Understanding the different processes of an organization is essential
to formulate strategies suitable to the specific threats and opportunities. According to (Binder,
2016) Vivid knowledge of managing a multi-cultural workforce and more importantly, the
necessity to include minority communities in the global workforce is the most important
impact of Affirmative Action on training modules.
Impact of Affirmative Training on Development
Relationship of race and gender diversity with the performance of a Company defines
the development of the organization in respect to policies and practices that discriminate on

4IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
the basis of gender and race (Hoogendoorn, Oosterbeek & Van Praag, 2013). In order to
enhance the productivity of the total workforce, compliance with Affirmative Training Plan
helps to empower the backward communities in the workforce, who have been long excluded
from most privileges of training, education and experience. Emphasis on the diversity of
workforce helps to strategize the management of a multi-cultural population in way that
encourages absolute utilization of employed resources (Saxena, 2014). Diversity in workforce
brings in diversity in skills and experiences and therefore makes for a strong team.
Proficient utilization of employees’ capabilities is another important impact of
complying with Affirmative Action strategies. The AAP (Affirmative Action Plan) considers
the existing diversity in the workforce and accordingly evaluates the requirements and
capabilities of the employees to have a better insight at the productivity of the organization.
Better understanding of diverse groups leads to better acceptance of diversity within the
organization (Lopez, Gonzalez-Barrera & Cuddington, 2013). Encouraging mutual respect
and understanding amongst the various classes, gender, skin colors, races, orientations and
disabilities is a noteworthy development in the organizational performance.
Last but not the least, most organizations cater to clients who are multi-diversely
spread out all over the globe. In order to provide efficiently for the customers, a Company
needs to comprehend the dynamic needs and expectations of the diverse community of
customers. In the global market, the diversity of demands and requirements of customers
depend on the multi-diversity of the customer force. Hence, a diverse workforce, inclusive of
representatives for all segments of society, better achieves customer satisfaction.
Impact of Affirmative Action on Promotion
Affirmative Action Plan is a management tool to encourage the promotion of a work-
process that is inclusive of diversity in gender and race respectively. It emphasizes on the

5IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
existing unequal power-relations between a male employee and female employee of an
organization (Gill, 2014). It stresses on the adverse impacts of marginalization of women and
minority races on the productivity of a workforce and promotes a more culturally inclusive
workspace, devoid of any kind of discrimination based on gender, race, skin color and
nationality. The effort to reduce normative gender stereotyping in employment sectors
promotes gender equality in national and international workspaces. Similarly, restricting the
practices and interactions that encourage racist philosophies and/or intolerance towards
blacks/Hispanics, helps in promoting a color-blind workforce, devoid of prejudices against
people of color.
AAP is a strategic management instrument that promotes the value of equality,
especially in the public and private employment sector (Boe, 2014). They are used as
essential tools to efficiently manage utilization of human resources. Discrimination based on
gender and race leads to the access of undue dispensation for the privileged classes. Biasness
towards the privileged section of the society indulges in nepotism and corruption through
affiliation. This drastically affects the quality of services and products provided by the
organization. Therefore, promotion and management of equity and diversity is one of the
major impacts of implementing Affirmative Action Plan. Affirmative Action does not only
investigate the various inequities hidden in discriminatory practices but also promotes a more
gender-sensitized and color-blind world in general.
Impact of Affirmative Action on Contractor Relations
Affirmative Action is directly related with the procedures of federal contracts and
audits of an organization. Proactive recruitment of employees, emphasizing on the promotion
of working women and other marginalized communities has to be complied with by the
federal contractors of an organization. The US government’s Office of Federal Contract

6IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Compliance Programs looks after the organization’s compliance with the affirmative action
plans. The federal contractors are responsible for enforcing the affirmative action guidelines
in order to ensure the ongoing compliance. This reduces the risk of faulty audit and avoids
the risk of being penalized by OFCCP for failing to adhere to the affirmative action
guidelines.
This requires the business managers to be aware of equal employment opportunity
duties and promote equity through empowering the marginalized communities (Cascio,
2018). The plan stresses on strictly following the guidelines to ensure zero tolerance towards
racial and gender discrimination, on an international level. Adhering to the OFCCP
guidelines ensures further contracts, national and international, that promotes business with
companies that adhere to the same guidelines (Walsh, 2015). The OFCCP enforces certain
civil rights requirements for all employees, irrespective of their race, sex, gender, color, to all
the organizations that use federal contract, sub-contract or construction construct. Monitoring
the AAP compliance is an ongoing process looked after by the human resource professionals.
However, investment behind setting up effective Affirmative Action Plan is huge and the
human resource manager needs to have proper communication with the other operational
processes in order to keep a check on the entire process (Niederle, Segal & Vesterlund,
2013). The initiatives and management strategies applied by the contractor is inspected and
evaluated by the AAP guidelines; it evaluates the statistical data of number of women and
minority communities participating in the contractor’s workforce.
Impact on the Retention of Qualified Women and Persons of Color
Empowerment of working women was greatly influenced by the application of
Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action programs for women include reaching out to multiply
skilled and experienced women in the work force. It provides a fair opportunity to all

7IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
individuals, irrespective of their gender, at the recruitment offices or training centers. The
training centers further encourage and inspire the women to prepare themselves for higher
positions in managerial levels. It recognizes the areas where women are under-represented
and takes steps accordingly to rationalize the representation (Morley, 2014). Their aims and
objectives are flexible so as to allow more women to come forward and take up the jobs with
confidence.
Similarly, the affirmative action plan provides for the people of color and aims to
remove racial discrimination amongst the Hispanics, Native Americans and other indigenous
tribes of America (Wade, 2017). With progress in Eurocentric civilization, these groups and
communities have been abandoned and excluded from the general work force and income of
the country. Emphasizing on the proactive recruitment, training and promotion of people of
color helps to a great extent in empowering them and making theme equally competent in
respect to the rest of the workforce.
Recruitment of the marginalized communities as the employees of an organization
leads to the correct representation of the specific needs and requirements of the community
(Premji et al. 2014). In order to bring about an all-round reduction in the discrimination
processes, the marginalized communities should be given voice to express their demands.
Affirmative action provides the marginalized and oppressed communities to voice their own
opinions and demand the basic rights of humanity.
Conclusion
To conclude, the impacts of affirmative action plan are multi-diverse. Implementation
of the affirmative action is not only helpful but also extremely necessary in order to maintain
a multi-cultural workforce devoid of discrimination based on gender, race and skin color. It is
a systematic process aiming to change the effects of prior discrimination in workplace and

8IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
replace them with effects of a strong and multicultural workforce. Its main objective is to
provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals, irrespective of their gender, sex,
color and orientation. Affirmative action is dedicated to the specific groups who have
histories of oppression and marginalization.

9IMPACTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
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