Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 20293075
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED200163 AUTHOR: Barger, Robert N.
TITLE: A Critique of Motivational Bases for Affirmative
Action Programs in Postsecondary Education.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1981
NOTE: 17 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Educational Research Association (Los Angeles, CA,
April 16, 1981).
ABSTRACT: Motivational bases for affirmative action
programs, particularly as these programs pertain to
postsecondary education, are considered. "Motivational
bases" refers to the basic incentives that are invoked in
order to gain public support for affirmative action
programs. Three types of motivational bases are addressed:
those associated with reasons of morality, those associated
with legality, and those associated with utility. The
effectiveness of these motivational bases in generating
popular support and the accomplishment of its ultimate goal
of equal educational and employment opportunity is
criticized. Background information on affirmative action is
also reviewed. There are essentially four ethical
principles
that may be used to determine the morality of affirmative
action: the principle of simple justice, the principle of
compensatory justice, the principle of distributive
justice, and the principle of formal equality. A chief
merit of legality as a motivational basis for affirmative
action is that it emphasizes that affirmative action is the
official policy of the nation (or state, or city). It also
lays stress on the power of federal (or state, or local)
enforcement behind this policy. Utility focuses on the
effectiveness of a program or policy as a means to an end,
rather than on the intrinsic qualities of the program or
policy itself. Advantages and disadvantages of the three
approaches are analyzed, and it is argued that the utility
perspective appears to have fewer disabilities and more
strengths than the other two. (SW)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Comparative-Analysis; Compliance-Legal;
Educational-Opportunities; Ethics-; Federal-Regulation;
Higher-Education; Postsecondary-Education; Public-Policy
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Affirmative-Action; *Equal-Education;
*Equal-Opportunities-Jobs; *Legal-Responsibility; *Moral
Issues; *Program-Effectiveness
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