Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action Robert W. Ethridge, Ph.D. Vice President Equal Opportunity Programs What is Equal Employment Opportunity (EE0)? Provides every individual with an equal chance to become aware of, apply for, and compete for jobs. It applies to all employment practices including: Recruitment Hiring Tenure Compensation Committee Assignments Layoffs, etc. 1
What is Affirmative Action (AA)? Goes beyond the concept of EEO. AA policies and programs are tools that support efforts to recruit, employ, retain and promote qualified members of historically excluded groups (i.e. minorities and women). Comparing & Contrasting Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Active Policy Requires employers to take steps to make certain they are achieving goals of parity. Recognizes that intentions and achievements are not always perfectly matched and checks employer intentions against outcomes, according to standard business practices. Requires employers to monitor progress. Passive Policy Prohibits intentional discrimination; requires that employers assess whether their organizational practices are producing discriminatory effects. Sets no procedures for checking the difference between employer intention and outcome. Sets no procedures for monitoring progress. Establishes counting as necessary to determine whether employers have been successful in ensuring that outcomes are consistent with the goal of parity. Requires that employer goals be based on counts of specific categories (i.e., race, gender, disability). Sets no procedures for assessing how well employers have met the goal of equal employment opportunity. Does not look at categories because there is no system for assessing outcomes. 2
Why is EEO/AA needed? Women earn approximately 77 cents for every dollar men earn; African American men with professional degrees earn only 79 percent of what white males earn; Audit studies, where white and minority job seekers were given the same resumes and sent to the same firms to apply for jobs, found that employers are less likely to interview/offer a job to the minority; A 1995 study of university faculty hiring practices found that once a minority goal was met, departments stopped seeking minority applicants. What an Affirmative Action Program is Not: It is not preferential treatment or quotas (the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that quotas are illegal); It does not mean that unqualified persons should be hired or promoted over other people. 3
Emory s Affirmative Action Program Implemented and monitored by the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs; Designed to assess hiring, training and promotional opportunities for minorities and women at Emory; Includes an Affirmative Action Plan that: assists in evaluating progress; identifies the need to execute different strategies to increase minority representation. What Are Some Affirmative Action Strategies? Aggressive recruiting to expand the pool of candidates for job openings; Evaluating and updating selection tools and criteria to ensure their relevance to job performance; Revising traditional measures of merit to more fully recognize talent and performance under varying conditions. 4
Why are AA Programs Important? identify and attract outstanding individuals from historically underrepresented groups; Increase the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of many educational and workplace settings; Diversity is critical to the future strength of our society and economy; Anecdotal evidence exists that racial, ethnic and gender diversity helps stimulate individual growth and intellectual development. Q&A Office of Equal Opportunity Programs 201 Dowman Drive 110 Administration Building Atlanta, GA 30322 4047276016 Tel 4047272666 Fax www.emory.edu/eeo 5