Equality of opportunity at work

There is support for the view that often equality of opportunity is measured by the criteria of equality of outcome , [94] although with difficulty. In one example, an analysis of relative equality of opportunity was done based on outcomes, such as a case to see whether hiring decisions were fair regarding men versus women—the analysis was done using statistics based on average salaries for different groups. In college admissions, equality of outcome can be measured directly by comparing offers of admission given to different groups of applicants: Equal opportunity has been described as a fundamental basic notion in business and commerce and described by economist Adam Smith as a basic economic precept.

A report in USA Today suggested that the goal of equal opportunity was "being achieved throughout most of the business and government labor markets because major employers pay based on potential and actual productivity". Fair opportunity practices include measures taken by an organization to ensure fairness in the employment process. A basic definition of equality is the idea of equal treatment and respect. In job advertisements and descriptions, the fact that the employer is an equal opportunity employer is sometimes indicated by the abbreviations EOE or MFDV, which stands for Minority, Female, Disabled, Veteran.

Analyst Ross Douthat in The New York Times suggested that equality of opportunity depends on a rising economy which brings new chances for upward mobility and he suggested that greater equality of opportunity is more easily achieved during "times of plenty". According to professor David Christian of Macquarie University, an underlying Big History trend has been a shift from seeing people as resources to exploit towards a perspective of seeing people as individuals to empower. According to Christian, in many ancient agrarian civilizations, roughly nine of every ten persons was a peasant exploited by a ruling class.

In the past thousand years, there has been a gradual movement in the direction of greater respect for equal opportunity as political structures based on generational hierarchies and feudalism broke down during the late Middle Ages and new structures emerged during the Renaissance. Monarchies were replaced by democracies: Slavery was also abolished generally. The new entity of the nation state emerged with highly specialized parts, including corporations , laws and new ideas about citizenship as well as values about individual rights found expression in constitutions, laws and statutes.

In the United States, one legal analyst suggested that the real beginning of the modern sense of equal opportunity was in the Fourteenth Amendment which provided "equal protection under the law".

Creating fair workplaces

In , a congressional "Unemployment Relief Act" forbade discrimination "on the basis of race, color, or creed". Board of Education decision furthered government initiatives to end discrimination.

In , President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order which enabled a presidential committee on equal opportunity, [21] which was soon followed by President Lyndon B.

The Benefits of Equality & Diversity in the Workplace

Johnson 's Executive Order The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established, sometimes reviewing charges of discrimination cases which numbered in the tens of thousands annually during the s. Conflict between formal and substantive approaches manifested itself in backlashes, sometimes described as reverse discrimination , such as the Bakke case when a white male applicant to medical school sued on the basis of being denied admission because of a quota system preferring minority applicants.

Many economists measure the degree of equal opportunity with measures of economic mobility.

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For instance, Joseph Stiglitz asserts that with five economic divisions and full equality of opportunity, "20 percent of those in the bottom fifth would see their children in the bottom fifth. Britain, supposedly notorious for its class divisions, does only a little worse 30 percent. That means they have a 70 percent chance of moving up. The chances of moving up in America, though, are markedly smaller only 58 percent of children born to the bottom group make it out , and when they do move up, they tend to move up only a little". Similar analyses can be performed for each economic division and overall.

They all show how far from the ideal all industrialized nations are and how correlated measures of equal opportunity are with income inequality and wealth inequality.

There is agreement that the concept of equal opportunity lacks a precise definition. There have been various criticisms directed at both the substantive and formal approach. One account suggests that left-leaning thinkers who advocate equality of outcome fault even formal equality of opportunity on the grounds that it "legitimates inequalities of wealth and income". Gardner suggested several views: Economist Larry Summers advocated an approach of focusing on equality of opportunity and not equality of outcomes and that the way to strengthen equal opportunity was to bolster public education.

There is speculation that since equality of opportunity is only one of sometimes competing "justice norms", there is a risk that following equality of opportunity too strictly might cause problems in other areas. It strikes us as wrong — or not obviously right — that some people starve while others have private jets.

We are uncomfortable when university professors earn less, for example, than junior lawyers. But equality appears to pull against other important ideals such as liberty and efficiency. Economist Paul Krugman sees equality of opportunity as a "non-Utopian compromise" which works and is a "pretty decent arrangement" which varies from country to country. Conservative thinker Dinesh D'Souza criticized equality of opportunity on the basis that "it is an ideal that cannot and should not be realized through the actions of the government" and added that "for the state to enforce equal opportunity would be to contravene the true meaning of the Declaration and to subvert the principle of a free society".

I have a five-year-old daughter. Since she was born My wife goes over her workbooks. I am teaching her chess. Why are we doing these things? We are, of course, trying to develop her abilities so that she can get the most out of life. Even though we might be embarrassed to think of it this way, we are doing our utmost to undermine equal opportunity.

So are all the other parents who are trying to get their children into the best schools D'Souza argued that it was wrong for government to try to bring his daughter down, or to force him to raise up other people's children, [] but a counterargument is that there is a benefit to everybody, including D'Souza's daughter, to have a society with less anxiety about downward mobility, less class resentment and less possible violence. An argument similar to D'Souza's was raised by Nozick in Anarchy, State, and Utopia , who wrote that the only way to achieve equality of opportunity was "directly worsening the situations of those more favored with opportunity, or by improving the situation of those less well-favored".

X was plain while Y was better looking and more intelligent. If Y did not exist, then "fair lady" would have married X, but Y exists and so she marries Y. Nozick argued against equality of opportunity on the grounds that it violates the rights of property since the equal opportunity maxim interferes with an owner's right to do what he or she pleases with a property. Property rights were a major component of the philosophy of John Locke and are sometimes referred to as "Lockean rights".

That some people's "natural assets" were unearned is irrelevant to the equation according to Nozick and he argued that people are nevertheless entitled to enjoy these assets and other things freely given by others. Friedrich Hayek felt that luck was too much of a variable in economics, such that one can not devise a system with any kind of fairness when many market outcomes are unintended. Some conceptions of equality of opportunity, particularly the substantive and level playing field variants, have been criticized on the basis that they make assumptions to the effect that people have similar genetic makeups.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Affirmative action in the United States Asset-based egalitarianism Bona fide occupational qualifications Egalitarianism Equal employment opportunity Ethnic penalty Free education Polarization economics Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates Title IX Universal access Universal access to education Women and children first Substantive equality. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Gardner , Excellence: Can we be equal and excellent too?

Fields, Cornell University, John E. Symposium — Shaping American Communities: University of Pennsylvania, Law School. Highbeam Research article September 12, The Rise of the Meritocracy. Sues Kaplan Over Hiring". The New York Times. Museum of Broadcast Communications. Dugger February 29, Issues of gender, race and disability, pp.

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Hirshberg December 30, Friedman , Free to choose: Archived from the original on October 15, Fundamental Issues in Democratic Theory, Boulder: Some people are better placed to take advantage of equal opportunity in our schools". Some people are simply better placed to take advantage of opportunity The Price of Inequality: Acceptance of inequality rests on assumptions that 'free markets' make us all richer in the end.

Growth figures tell it differently". Access to good schools, good health care, and job opportunities depends on lot on choosing the right parents. Cultural Diversity and Political Theory, pp. Archived from the original on March 26, Retrieved September 12, Harvard University Press, chapters 1—3. The Level Playing Field Conception".

Cambridge University Press, chapters 3, 4 and 7. Advances without equal opportunity Stagnation without equal opportunity Koch February 20, The New York Times: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Royal Commission on the Status of Women". Discrimination cases warrant special tribunal". Performs statistical research and analysis required knowledge Strong quantitative and statistical analysis skills are required.

Colorado State university keeps separate counts for each type of position for these categories Guidelines to Policy Implementation". Aberystwyth University will assemble statistical information concerning the composition of its staff and student body The Daily of the University of Washington. The study notes that women are genuinely equitably represented as compared to men Utilization analysis — These data are calculated based on the comparative hiring pool University of Chicago researcher Stefano Allesina found the pattern to be incompatible with unbiased, equal opportunity hiring Journal of Political Philosophy.

Average pay comparisons misleading". WOMEN earn 16 per cent less than men on average for the same work. Don't check 'Asian ' ". In times of plenty, they can budget for upward mobility and equality of opportunity. Deutsch January 4, New York and London: Archived from the original on February 5, Equality, Affirmative Action, and Justice. Perhaps the focus of debate and policy needs to shift from a focus on inequality in outcomes, where attitudes divide sharply and there are limits to what can be done, to a focus on inequalities in opportunity.

Against equality of opportunity". These discussions can be undertaken on a one-to-one basis, or in front of a panel if the employee so wishes, such as at appraisals and personal reviews. When it comes to pay, under the laws of equality, no employee should be paid any more or any less than any one of their colleagues who are performing the same role due to their age, gender, religion, sexuality or any other discriminatory reason. However, it should here be noted that under some circumstances there becomes a legitimate reason for differences in pay between employees who are undertaking the same job role.

For example if somebody has been with the company for a longer period of time, or has more experience or qualifications. It is vital, however, that the employer be able to justify that the reasons for the differences in pay are legitimate, and not based on any form of bias towards one employee over another. A good diversity programme has many beneficial effects on staff and organisations alike. Indeed, when it comes to equality and diversity, a good rubric means that the whole working environment is much better, productivity is heightened, and success and business naturally increase.

Employees can rest assured that they will not be discriminated against in the workplace, and that they have equal opportunities for promotion and progression, and that they are only being assessed on their performance and measurable merits. They will feel empowered because they know that they are only being employed for their aptitude, just as is everyone else around them. What is more, the employee can be confident that they will be given the right tools to do their job properly, which can be anything from proper disabled access, flexible working hours, and even good communication from all members of staff.

When there are no barriers to job progression, the workforce feels more positive about their jobs and will be more committed to working hard for the company that is working hard for them. These sorts of diversity and equality initiatives create a real sense of understanding and respect right throughout an organisation, which engenders a much better, more pleasant and productive working atmosphere for everyone. Having people from all walks of life can give a huge boost to a business, with different insights, perspectives and experiences all combining to produce an effective, dynamic and creative workforce.

It is of course still the case that some companies do not adhere to the laws or even their own equal opportunities policies. If you feel that you are being discriminated against, then there are plenty of organisations that you can reach out to seek help. Consider getting in touch with:. It may be useful to contact the human resources department about this.

Examples of Equal Opportunities Within the Workplace

If you cannot resolve the issue internally, then you can take your case to an employment tribunal, especially if you found yourself forced out of a job for what you believe to be discriminatory reasons. Equality and diversity are the terms used to both define and champion the values of human rights in society, and that includes the workplace. With every individual being given an equal chance to achieve their potential, absolutely free from prejudice and discrimination, the importance of these terms, and the laws that enforce their meanings, are in place to advocate and promote the true sense of equality and opportunity for all.

For more information on how Marshall Elearning can help you create an equal, diverse and inclusive workplace, please visit the diversity section of our website. Your email address will not be published.