Affirmative Action in Perspective

211 Pages·1989·6.873 MB·English

by  Fletcher A. Blanchard, Faye J. Crosby (auth.)

Recent Research in Psychology
Fletcher A. Blanchard Faye J. Crosby
Affrrmative Action
in Perspective
Published Under the Auspices of the
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg
London Paris Tokyo
Fletcher A. Blanchard
Faye J. Crosby
Department of Psychology
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
USA
With 4 Illustrations
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blanchard, Fletcher A.
Affirmative action in perspective I Fletcher A. Blanchard, Faye J.
Crosby.
p. cm. - (Recent research in psychology)
Includes index.
I. Affirmative action programs-United States. 2. Discrimination
in employment-United States. I. Crosby, Faye J., 1947-
II. Title. III. Series.
HF5549.5.A34B56 1989
331.13'3'0973-dc 19 89-4061
Printed on acid-free paper
© 1989 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA),
except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with
any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the
former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by
the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone.
Camera-ready copy provided by the authors.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
ISBN-13: 978-0-387-96971-8 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-9639-0
001: 10.1007/978-1-4613-9639-0
This volume is dedicated
to
s. W. C. who, through his patient commitment to the under
standing of discrimination and prejudice, has shaped the de
velopment of generations of social scientists and policy makers
(F.B.)
and to
Catherine, Elga, Etta, Joanne, and all my other friends at the
"Committee of 13" with thanks for the beginning lessons in
affirmative action.
(F.C)
Preface
How can society undo the legacy of racial and sexual discrimination
in its institutions without engaging in reverse discrimination? Do
centuries of injustice --in which some groups have oppressed others -
require that those who were unfairly advantaged shall now be unfairly
disadvantaged? How, in a world of static or diminishing resources, shall
some be compensated without unacceptable costs to others?
These questions, difficult in the abstract, become especially prob
lematic when we come to practicalities. For a while, a policy of equal op
portunity appeared to be the answer to the racial and gender injustices of
American society. But the policy of equal opportunity operates fairly
only in a system that does not distinguish between groups either de jure
or de facto, either intentionally or unintentionally, either blatantly or sub
tly. If racism and sexism exist in America, then equal opportunity is not a
feasible policy for American institutions.
That racism and sexism do persist has been documented countless
times in a number of ways. Overt and blatant prejudice is no longer ac
ceptable in most circles, but it takes more than a few decades to dis
mantle the structures that have so relentlessly and so systematically put
some groups at a disadvantage relative to others. Imbalances continue,
even when they are not intended or attended.
Given the unjust realities of the past, it is not enough to wait pas
sively for a better society. Institutions must go out of their way to assure
that their practices are fair. That is why affirmative action can potentially
assure a more equitable and efficient society than does a policy of so
called equal opportunity.
The importance of affirmative action for our society is evident from
this book. So too are the many problems of the policy. None of the au-
viii Preface
thors hides from the complexities of affirmative action. But while the
material here makes abundantly clear the perils of affirmative action, it
also demonstrates how effective and fair the policy can be and usually is.
Also abundantly clear is the fact that a book like this involves much
good labor from many people whose names do not appear on the pages
that follow. We would therefore like to thank several people for their
hard work. Michele Wittig deserves credit for originating the book.
Kathy Bartus, Janet Lampman, and especially Victoria Dalzell have
earned our gratitude for the devotion they showed over several months,
helping to transform our project from a set of manuscripts to a finished
book. We also thank Richard Parker and Sang-Rang Shin of the Center
for Academic Computing at Smith College for their advice and as
sistance with text preparation. We would also like to shout a hearty
thank-you to Travis Crosby who generously gave attention to various
drafts of various chapters. For his grace of expression as well as his good
graces, we applaud him. Also helpful in reading drafts have been Chi
Chi Carson, Susan Clayton, Jack Dovidio, and Edward Etheredge. Final
ly, we acknowledge the help of Joice Care. Her sharp eyes helped our
weary ones.
Institutional support has been critically important. Smith College's
Committee on Faculty Compensation and Development awarded funds
to Blanchard and to Crosby. The Dana Foundation also deserves a thank
you for the grant to Janet Lampman that enabled her to work with us on
the book.
Northampton, MA
October, 1988
Contents
Preface vii
Contributors xi
I Affirmative Action Policies and Programs
Chapter 1 Introduction: Affirmative Action
and the Question of Standards
Faye J. Crosby and Fletcher A. Blanchard 3
Chapter 2 What is Affirmative Action?
Frances A. Holloway 9
Chapter 3 Affirmative Action and Presidential
Executive Orders
Dalmas A. Taylor 21
Chapter 4 Affirmative Action and the Courts
Jim D. Newman 31
Chapter 5 Employment Screening, Qualifications,
and Gender Discrimination: A Case Study
of the New York City Firefighters
Wessie L. Norris and Maryellen Reardon 51
Chapter 6 Women in Federal Government
Employment
Nijole V. Benokraitis and
Melissa Kesler Gilbert 65
II Reactions to Affirmative Action
Chapter 7 Resistance to Affirmative Action:
The Implications of Aversive Racism
John F. Dovidio, Jeffrey Mann, and
Samuel L. Gaertner 83
x Contents
Chapter 8 Affirmative Action and Self-Evaluation
Rupert W. Nacoste 103
Chapter 9 Who Likes Affirmative Action:
Attitudinal Processes Among
Men and Women
Francine Tougas and France Veilleux 111
Chapter 10 Administrators' Perceptions of Affirmative
Action in Higher Education
Ann Tickamyer, Susan Scollay, Janet
Bokemeier, and Teresa Wood 125
Chapter 11 Reactions to Affirmative Action:
A Case Study
Nancy Goldsmith, Diana Cordova,
Karen Dwyer, Bergen Langlois,
and Faye J. Crosby 139
III Why Bother?
Chapter 12 Labor Market Discrimination in
the United States
Christopher J. Ruhm 149
Chapter 13 Affirmative Action and Aggregate Data:
The Importance of Patterns in the
Perception of Discrimination
Catherine Twiss, Susan Tabb, and Faye J. Crosby 159
Chapter 14 Affirmative Action and the Challenge
of the Color-blind Perspective
Bernardo M. Ferdman 169
Chapter 15 The Justice of Affirmative Action
Susan D. Clayton and Sandra S. Tangri 177
Chapter 16 Effective Affirmative Action Programs
Fletcher A. Blanchard 193
Index 209
Contributors
Nijole V. Benokraitis is Professor of Sociology at the University of Balti
more.
Fletcher A. Blanchard is Associate Professor of Psychology at Smith Col
lege.
Janet Bokemeier is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of
Kentucky.
Susan D. Clayton is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Tufts University.
Diana Cordova is a graduate student in social psychology at Stanford Uni
versity.
Faye J. Crosby is Professor of Psychology at Smith College.
John F. Dovidio is Associate Professor of Psychology at Colgate Univer
sity.
Karen Dwyer is a free spirit living in Whitefish, Montana.
Bernardo M. Ferdman is Assistant Professor of Psychology and of Latin
American and Caribbean Studies at the University of New York in
Albany.
Samuel L. Gaertner is Professor of Psychology at the University of Dela
ware.
Melissa Kesler Gilbert is Statistical Analyst and Director of Learning As
sessment at Goucher College.
Nancy Goldsmith is Assistant Director of Admissions at Connecticut Col
lege.
Frances A. Holloway is the Director of the Affirmative Action Office at
Yale University.
Bergen Langlois is an Ada Comstock Scholar at Smith College.
Jeffrey Mann is completing his doctoral studies in social psychology at the
University of Delaware.
xii Contributors
Rupert W. Nacoste is Assistant Professor of Psychology at North Carolina
State University.
Jim D. Newman is an Associate with the law firm of Pettit & Martin in San
Francisco, California. He previously served as Senior Attorney in the
Office of Regional Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service, in San
Francisco.
Wessie L. Norris is a Tests and Measurement Specialist at the New York
City Department of Personnel.
Maryellen Reardon is a Research Associate at Avon Products, Inc.
Christopher J. Ruhm is Assistant Professor of Economics at Boston Univer
sity.
Susan Scollay is in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Grad-
uate Studies at the University of Kentucky.
Susan Tabb is a Management Trainee for Continental Cablevision.
Sandra S. Tangri is Professor of Psychology at Howard University.
Dalmas A. Taylor is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wayne State
University.
Ann Tickamyer is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of
Kentucky.
Francine Tougas is Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa.
Catherine Twiss is a graduate student in social psychology at the Univer
sity of Connecticut.
France Veilleux is a research analyst at the University of Montreal
(GRASP).
Teresa Wood is completing her doctoral studies in sociology at the Uni
versity of Kentucky.