Does Affirmative Action Work In Society Today?
...eating affirmative action never required quotas, then when quotas have been put in place, they are merely exceptions to the rule (Guy 242).” Diversity in the workplace has been slowly increasing under affirmative action, however, Guy feels that this is no time to abandon it, but to keep it moving forward. "Stigmatization revisited: Does diversity management make a difference in applicant success?," written by Jacqueline Gilbert and Bette Ann Stead, includes the results of experiments conducted at two universities. These experiments examined whether there was a greater perception of increased qualifications and competence when employees were hired under a system of diversity management versus an affirmative action plan. (Gilbert & Stead 1) The second article "Diversity management: A New organizational paradigm," written by Jacqueline Gilbert, Bette Ann Stead, and John Ivancevich, defines diversity management and compares it to affirmative action. Furthermore they discuss strategies that will help to insure that a diversity management program is successful. (Gilbert et al. 1) In "Stigmatization revisited…" the authors performed experiments to determine the effects of affirmative action versus diversity management. Individuals, both women and those of color, that were hired under the guise of an affirmative action plan were generally viewed as less qualified than there peers. It was noted that the perception was that if they were qualified for the position, then they would have been no need for an affirmative action plan. Those individuals that were hired in an atmosphere of diversity management were not perceived as being more or less qualified than their peers. These results were especially evident when the job was a traditional "male type", for example, an electrician (Gilbert & Stead 11). They concluded that an organization that valued and promoted cultural diversity would enable women and minorities to be perceived as competent for the positions that they held. Also those companies would have an inherent advantage when it came many other areas; including resource acquisition, marketing, creativity flexibility, and corporate attractiveness. These advantages would lead to greater profits and therefore a more positive outcome (Gilbert & Stead 11). Thc theories of affirmative action are changing in today's world, according to the authors of "Diversity management..." Many states, as well as the federal government, are debating the future of programs that are viewed as giving any type of advantage to a particular group of people (i.e. race or gender) (Gilbert et al. 1). In order to alleviate concerns of discrimination, companies are developing corporate cultures that embrace cultural diversity. This is known as diversity management. Affirmative action has come under a lot of scrutiny, both by majority and minority groups, due to misperceptions and problematic implementations of the programs. Many people view affirmative action as a quota system that leads to unqualified individuals being hired ahead of those that are qualified, and are therefore viewed as less competent than their peers. By treating all people equally, with regards to race and gender, these perceptions disappear (Gilbert et al. 8). These programs, however, will not work if they only exist in one part of an organization. Diversity management programs must start with the CEO and work its way down to the bottom. By being prevalent throughout an organization, the positive ethics of a strong diversity program will not be detrimentally affected with the decisions of one individual who chooses not to be ethical (Gilbert et al. 8). Through their research, the authors feel that the traditional misperceptions that are prevalent in an affirmative action program should not surface in a diverse multicultural organization (Gilbert ...