 |
|
|
Home | Search | Site Index | Site Map | Directories | |
|
|||
 |
|
As a social psychologist, Susan Clayton feels a sense of responsibility to address social issues, and she finds her research to be an excellent way in which to explore such areas as justice, discrimination, and prosocial behavior.
An associate professor of psychology at The College of Wooster, where she joined the faculty in 1992, Clayton received her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College. She earned her master’s degree and her Ph.D. from Yale University. Clayton, who has taught at various institutions, has additional expertise in environmental issues, women’s issues, discrimination, race issues, and affirmative action. As an author she published Justice, Gender and Affirmative Action with Faye Crosby, which received a book award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights. She is currently working on an edited book titled Identity and the Natural Environment, which will be published by MIT Press. Clayton is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the International Society for Justice Research. She is also a fellow of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. |
Affirmative action legislation has been in place for more than a generation, but it remains a topic of controversy. Many believe that affirmative action policies have brought about significant change, particularly in the areas of minority admission to colleges and universities and minority hiring practices. Others believe that it is not only unnecessary but also a form of discrimination. Susan Clayton, associate professor of psychology at The College of Wooster, has done extensive research on the topic and tackles some of its central issues in this column. What is the history and purpose of affirmative action legislation? Lyndon Johnson issued an executive order in 1965 requiring the federal government and any organization that has a contract with the federal government to have an affirmative action plan, which would be a proactive attempt to ensure that people in protected gender or ethnic categories are not discriminated against in employment. The assumption was, and is, that you can never put an end to discrimination merely by making it illegal. Many people who are disadvantaged by discrimination do not recognize it, and if they do, they may lack the resources to wage and win a legal battle. In which social settings is affirmative action most needed? Affirmative action is most needed in the settings in which it will have the most impact on the outcomes of social groups: education and employment. Affirmative action is needed in educational settings because disadvantaged groups can’t be helped by affirmative action policies in employment unless they have the necessary qualifications for a job. It is needed in employment settings because all the education in the world will not raise the socio-economic status of a group if the group members can’t get good jobs. Will affirmative action help all minorities? Yes and no. Yes in the long-term sense that if the socio-economic status of a group is raised, every member of the group ultimately will benefit because the stereotypes about that group – the societal expectations for members of that group – will be improved. No in the more immediate sense, in that not every member of a minority group is in a position to be helped by affirmative action policies. With the progress that has been made during the past two decades, is affirmative action still necessary? Statistics show that women and people from ethnic minority groups still have lower economic outcomes than white males. Statistics also convincingly demonstrate that some of this discrepancy is due to discrimination, rather than to different abilities or different career "choices." Moreover, since the U.S. population is growing increasingly diverse, most businesses and educational institutions recognize that they need to eliminate any discriminatory practices that they may (perhaps unintentionally) retain. Affirmative action is still needed as a way to promote organizational fairness. Is affirmative action, in and of itself, a form of discrimination? Yes, in the sense that it requires organizations to discriminate among individuals on the basis of their group membership, affirmative action is one of many forms of discrimination that society allows. Other types of discrimination sanctioned by society include preference for athletes over non-athletes, preference for children of alumni, preference for geographical diversity, preference for veterans, etc. It is a mistake to think that our society could operate solely on the basis of "merit", or even that objective merit is usually possible to assess. It is important to note, though, that unlike racial prejudice, discrimination under affirmative action is not absolute: under affirmative action, an individual white male cannot lose his job, nor can he be excluded from a position, solely due to his race. Do you believe that race-based discrimination can be eliminated completely? Not at an individual level. As a social psychologist, I know that people dislike other people because of group identities. Some people don’t like Catholics. Some people don’t like New Yorkers. An individual can always discriminate against another person because of his or her group membership. But this discrimination can be effectively neutralized at a societal level. Discrimination against the Irish no longer seems to be a problem in American society though it was a century ago. I believe that race-based discrimination will cease to be a social problem when (a) affirmative action policies lead to increased diversity at high levels of business and institutional leadership, which will (b) reduce discrimination at these high levels, and (c) lead to the societal recognition that people from minority groups are just as capable as whites. |
 |
 |
 |
| Last updated: January 10, 2006 · For more information, contact John Finn | ||
