AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: WORKING AND LEARNING TOGETHER (1996)

An update of the Commission's 1984 report on affirmative action, the report examines thenew challenges to affirmative action policy and programs.

The report studies the persistent, systemic problems of discrimination based on race, national origin and/or gender, and the fairness and efficacy of affirmative action remedies in providing employment and educational opportunities in areas where minorities and women had been excluded in the past.

The issues addressed include the impact of affirmative action policy on employee hiring, promotion and personnel policies, the effect of affirmative action programs on "merit" standards, whether affirmative action makes good "business sense," and the impact of the termination of affirmative action policy at particular institutions on the employment and educational participation of women and minorities.

The report contains the results of research conducted on affirmative action programs in corporate America and public education, including interviews with representatives of Fortune 100 companies and administrators from all the general University of California campuses and the Office of the President, as well as data from federal and state agencies on the volume of "reverse discrimination" complaints they have received over the past several years. The report concludes that contrary to the claims of its opponents, ending affirmative action would divide and not unite the nation.