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Affirmative action has been a controversial and divisive issue. In Canada, affirmative action (or employment equity) is aimed at redressing past inequities and promoting the hiring of underrepresented groups. Women, visible or racial minorities, Aboriginal Peoples, and person with disabilities have historically faced discrimination in the workplace, and they form the four “designated groups” under the Canadian affirmative action policy.
Individuals may oppose affirmative action because they: harbor racist or sexist attitudes (taste discrimination), deny their own privilege and do not understand the challenges faced by marginalized groups, or subscribe to the principle of meritocracy. Yet, others may support affirmative action because they understand the historical challenges faced by designated group members (see why men may be supportive of affirmative action).
A recent (qualitative) study of Canadians suggests that individuals may be resistant to affirmative action because of a lack of understanding of the policy.
Most respondents in the study did not know who affirmative action is designed to assist. Some claimed it is for “marginal and vulnerable groups like contract workers,” “people of all races, cultural and religious differences,” or those “not part of the dominant cultural/sexual/religious…” when affirmative action covers only four designated groups in Canada.
Respondents also did not know what affirmative action is about. Some respondents indicated “equal pay for all regardless of gender, age, or race,” and “females must be paid equal pay for equal work as males.” Others responded by saying, “equal opportunities for all individuals.” Affirmative action is about "hiring, training, promotion and retention of persons in designated groups" and to "correct the underrepresentation." There is separate legislation for pay equity in Canada.
Individuals resisting affirmative action often invoked the liberal principle of employment based on merit and indicated that “employment should not be based on race, gender, personal disability, sexual preference. Rather, it should be based solely on merit,” “Organization X must always hire and promote the best qualified people regardless of status in any of the categories listed…” Affirmative action in Canada requires employers to take “special measures and accommodation of differences,” which means "more than treating people in the same way."
Some individuals also framed affirmative action as a program of privilege or supporting favoritism. One respondent noted, “I understand it to be a program that favors some members of the target group in the hiring processes which I would oppose fundamentally because 'equal' should mean 'equal' and not ‘better.'” Another respondent noted, “to give people who cannot succeed in the normal workplace an advantage.”
Others were more neutral, and used legalistic language, such as “as per clauses in position announcement.” One respondent described affirmative action as a “policy designed to level the playing field across different groups in terms of having access to job opportunities and actively removing barriers to employment for specified groups.”
Most respondents claimed non-familiarity as a topic avoidance strategy when discussing affirmative action. Some respondents claimed: “I am not familiar enough to answer.” “I have never been presented with [the policy] to read.” “No one ever talks about it.” A few individuals cited new employee status as the reason not to voice an opinion: “I am too new of an employee to responsibly comment on this [affirmative action].”
The study, did find some support for affirmative action, and no one was in favor of discriminating against marginalized groups. Yet, a large majority of the comments examined in the study resisted affirmative action and supported meritocracy. Not surprisingly, men were more likely than women to claim employers have done enough to promote affirmative action.
Eddy Ng holds the F.C. Manning Chair in Economics and Business at Dalhousie University, Canada. He co-authored the paper “Employment equity in Canada: Making sense of employee discourses of misunderstanding, resistance and support” in Canadian Public Administration (Wiley), with Rosemary McGowan at Wilfrid Laurier University. Follow Ed on Twitter @profng.
