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

Others, like Harvard and Cornell, did not share or limited their public admissions data at this time, in the second cycle after the Supreme Court’s ruling ending the practice of affirmative action. —Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Mar. 2025

A number of schools have seen noticeably shifts in the makeup of their student body since affirmative action—Harvard, for instance, saw a dip in Black student enrollment for the Class of 2028 (demographic data for the Class of 2029 will be released when this admissions cycle concludes). —Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025

Essien, who co-authored a study on the effect of affirmative action bans on medical schools, also said students are worried medical schools will not be as supportive toward students of color as in the past. —Annie Sciacca, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2025

And after a June 2023 Supreme Court decision reversing affirmative action policies in college admissions, UNC Charlotte closed three DEI offices and reassigned nearly a dozen workers. —Catherine Muccigrosso, Charlotte Observer, 6 Mar. 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