affirmative action

noun

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

: an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women

sought to achieve a multicultural staff through affirmative action

; also : a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons

See affirmative action defined for English-language learners

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Recent Examples of affirmative action from the Web

Harvard, for its part, has alleged that the department is fighting on behalf of Edward Blum, an anti–affirmative action advocate who founded Students for Fair Admissions.

— adam harris, The Atlantic, "The Curse of Being a Highly Selective College," 11 Apr. 2018
They are intelligently presented by him, however, and are crucial to the issue of affirmative action.

— matt viser, BostonGlobe.com, "Sophomoric and substantial: The college journalism career of James Comey," 9 Apr. 2018
When affirmative action sought to level the playing field, white people got mad and put an end to it.

— dahleen glanton, chicagotribune.com, "Yes, white ‘privilege’ is still the problem," 29 Mar. 2018
Speaking in 1976 at a seminar for women in banking, Joan Braverman Pinck cautioned that changes wrought by affirmative action would not be welcomed by men who were suddenly competing with women for supervisory roles.

— bryan marquard, BostonGlobe.com, "Joan Braverman Pinck, college leader, equal rights advocate," 29 Mar. 2018
Wax said in the video, which discussed affirmative action policies.

— michael smerconish, Philly.com, "Penn Prof. Amy Wax loses her voice | Michael Smerconish," 27 Mar. 2018
Kenya Battle, 17, stands outside of the Supreme Court as the justices heard oral arguments in 2015 during the Fisher v. University of Texas case, which concerned affirmative action practices that colleges and universities use in admissions.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "What Is College Good For? Absolutely Nothing, Say Republicans (and Some Democrats)," 1 Feb. 2018
Kim Trent, who worked under Granholm and is now a member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors, recalled working with Berman in the mid-2000s on a campaign to preserve affirmative action in Michigan.

— ann zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, "Maxine Berman, former state rep and women's advocate, dies," 2 Mar. 2018
Appointed to the position in 1977, which was then called affirmative action officer, Petranech monitored hiring decisions, made sure supervisors were aware of the university's equal opportunity policies and kept track of government regulations.

— meg jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Rosemary Petranech was Marquette University's longest-serving diversity officer," 18 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'affirmative action.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of affirmative action

1961

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Defined for English Language Learners

affirmative action

noun

: the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.