Affirmative action

Affirmative action comprises policies that seek to reduce discrimination’s effects by improving opportunities for groups historically excluded or disadvantaged.

Holistic admissions: An admissions approach that evaluates applicants through multiple factors rather than a single metric. It can consider experiences shaped by disadvantage without making group identity the sole criterion.
Executive Order 10925: A 1961 U.S. executive order requiring federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure nondiscrimination. It gave the phrase an early federal policy role in employment.
Equal protection: The constitutional principle that government must treat people equally under the law, subject to applicable standards of review. Affirmative action is often challenged or defended through competing interpretations of this guarantee.
Educational inequality: Unequal access to educational resources, opportunities, and outcomes among individuals or groups. Admissions policies operate within inequalities that begin well before college selection.
Meritocracy: A system in which advancement is allocated according to ability and achievement. Debates ask whether selection measures merit independently of unequal preparation and opportunity.
Quota (affirmative action): A fixed allocation of places or positions for members of a specified group. Quotas are a distinct, numerically explicit way to pursue representation, often subject to legal limits.
Executive Order 11246: A 1965 U.S. executive order barring federal contractors from employment discrimination and requiring affirmative action. It established a lasting framework for contractor compliance and workforce plans.
Strict scrutiny: The most demanding standard of judicial review, requiring a compelling governmental interest and narrow tailoring. In U.S. law, racial classifications in government programs generally trigger this demanding test.
Occupational segregation: The unequal distribution of social groups across occupations or levels within workplaces. Employment policies aim partly to counter patterns of exclusion from particular jobs.
Reverse discrimination: A claim that policies intended to remedy disadvantage unfairly discriminate against members of historically advantaged groups. The charge frames a central dispute over fairness and the distribution of remedies.

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