affirmative action

noun

: the use of policies, legislation, programs, and procedures to improve the educational or employment opportunities of members of certain demographic groups (such as minority groups, women, and older people) as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups

Note: Affirmative action gives limited preference to qualified groups (which may include racial and ethnic minorities, women, older people, people with disabilities, and some veterans) in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher education, the awarding of government contracts, and other social benefits.

The term affirmative action was … used in an executive order issued by President Johnson in 1965, which banned all federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as unions involved in federal work, from practicing employment discrimination.

—Michael L. Levine

Unlike previous measures, such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, which prohibited discrimination, the goal of affirmative action was to adopt a proactive approach to redressing past discrimination. It goes beyond the prohibition of overtly racist practices by requiring employers, public contractors, and college admissions officers to cast a wider net in their searches for qualified workers and students through active recruitment of racial minorities.

—Shirley J. Yee et al.

Examples of affirmative action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI programs could exacerbate an unexpectedly steep drop in diversity among medical school students, even in states like California, where public universities have been navigating bans on affirmative action for decades. —Annie Sciacca, Sacramento Bee, 17 Mar. 2025

Ending Affirmative Action Critics of affirmative action and other diversity initiatives argue that organizations should be meritocracies. —Dev Patnaik, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

In 2023, his Supreme Court appointees helped form the conservative majority that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. —NBC News, 23 Feb. 2025

Stanford University and Santa Clara University, private universities exempt from Prop 209, were prohibited from using affirmative action in admissions policies under the 2023 Supreme Court ruling. —Molly Gibbs, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for affirmative action

• abstraction
• attraction
• compaction
• contraction
• detraction
• diffraction
• distraction
• exaction
• extraction
• impaction
• inaction
• infraction

Kids Definition

affirmative action

noun

: the use of laws, policies, and programs giving limited preference to qualified minority groups and women to improve educational and employment opportunities as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination

Legal Definition

affirmative action

noun

: an active effort (as through legislation) to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups or women