ABSTRACT
As women have become more actively involved as members of the workforce, governments have enacted legislation (for example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act) to prohibit sexual discrimination in selection, promotion, and other personnel decisions. In addition, to remedy inequities and to increase the employment opportunities for women (as well as other targeted groups), governments have also promoted Affirmative Action Programs (AAPs). Within the context of organizational practices, AAPs may result in targeting recruitment efforts at females, developing special selection procedures, providing special training opportunities, as well as setting goals and timetables to increase the participation of women within the organization. In spite of the worthy social goals of AAPs, they may have a number of negative consequences. Essentially, the negative consequences stem from the fact that AAPs create circumstances wherein people conclude that personnel decisions have been based on sex as opposed to merit (Crosby and Clayton 1990; Kleiman and Faley 1988). This article reviews the research results concerning the consequences of sex-based personnel decisions in terms of how they influence the way people view a woman and the job she does, and how women who benefit from sex-based selection may suffer in terms of how they view themselves. In addition, the review will examine research regarding factors that may serve to counter the negative effects of AAPs. The results of these studies are important for organizations and working women because they provide information that can be used in developing and implementing AAPs to their best advantage. The interested reader should consult Blanchard and Crosby (1989) for discussions of other aspects of AAPs (such as AAPs and the courts, the justice of AAPs) and Carr-Ruffino et al. (1991), which provide a thorough overview of AAPs from a legislative perspective.
