ABSTRACT
A ffirmative action in education refers to policies and programs designed to advance equality of educational opportunity for individuals from groups that have suffered systematic historical discrimination. Affirmative action practices employed by educational institutions include (1) those that seek out candidates from underrepresented groups and recruit them to apply for admission, for faculty positions, and for scholarships; (2) those that, given a pool of candidates with comparable credentials, hire, admit, or award scholarships to individuals from underrepresented groups; and (3) those that, utilizing separate performance standards or criteria, hire, admit, and award scholarships to individuals from underrepresented groups. Individuals who may receive affirmative action benefits include members of certain ethnic, racial, and gender groups, social classes, veterans, and people with physical disabilities. Acrual affirmative action policies and programs and ways they are implemented vary by state, locality, and educational institution. The focus of this chapter will be higher education, although affirmative action in secondary schools will be discussed briefly.
