Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02170131
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED231262 AUTHOR: Barger, Robert N.; Barger, Josephine C.
TITLE: A Workable Strategy for Affirmative Action.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1983
NOTE: 11 p.; Paper presented at the National Conference on
Blacks in Higher Education (8th, Washington, DC, April 14,
1983).
ABSTRACT: The kinds of affirmative action programs that are
likely to be successful within postsecondary education are
identified. Affirmative action is designed to increase
minority access, survival, and upward mobility within the
institution. The following arguments are proposed: (1)
ethical and legal strategies are insufficient to accomplish
the aim of an affirmative action program, and (2) a
pragmatic strategy, which appeals to the interests of both
the majority and minority, is necessary for the success of
an affirmative action program. The following principles of
philosophical ethics, which are open to conflicting
interpretations, are briefly explained: compensatory
justice, distributive justice, and formal equality. There
are problems with basing affirmative action on grounds of
legality, since the legal grounds may shift, and the
reporting of results is often based on "good faith" effort,
rather than a showing of substantial results. The pragmatic
approach is based on utility, measured in terms of results
or consequences. It is suggested that future demographic
changes in postsecondary education will likely result in a
buyer's market for minority students. Therefore, it is in
the self-interest of colleges to recruit and retain minority
students, and to increase the number of minority staff. (SW)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Compliance-Legal; Declining-Enrollment;
Equal-Education; Ethics-; Legal-Responsibility
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Access-to-Education; *Affirmative-Action;
*Minority-Groups; *Postsecondary-Education; *Student
Recruitment
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