affirmative action

noun

: the use of policies, legislation, programs, and procedures to improve the educational or employment opportunities of members of certain demographic groups (such as minority groups, women, and older people) as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups

Note: Affirmative action gives limited preference to qualified groups (which may include racial and ethnic minorities, women, older people, people with disabilities, and some veterans) in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher education, the awarding of government contracts, and other social benefits.

The term affirmative action was … used in an executive order issued by President Johnson in 1965, which banned all federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as unions involved in federal work, from practicing employment discrimination.

—Michael L. Levine

Unlike previous measures, such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, which prohibited discrimination, the goal of affirmative action was to adopt a proactive approach to redressing past discrimination. It goes beyond the prohibition of overtly racist practices by requiring employers, public contractors, and college admissions officers to cast a wider net in their searches for qualified workers and students through active recruitment of racial minorities.

—Shirley J. Yee et al.

Examples of affirmative action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The letter from Charleston also cited a reference from Garber’s April 14 statement regarding the need to be in compliance with the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 decision ending affirmative action in American colleges. —Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2025

In the 1970s, when affirmative action faced backlash in U.S. courts, diversity was reframed as an educational benefit. —Hec Paris Insights, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025

The rollback of affirmative action and the growing resistance to DEI initiatives signal a broader cultural shift that, if unchallenged, will erode decades of social progress. —Anne Tapp Jaksa, Baltimore Sun, 14 Apr. 2025

The department referred to the Supreme Court's overturning of affirmative action as a basis for anti-diversity policies, in addition to the Trump administration's interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. —April Rubin, Axios, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for affirmative action

• abstraction
• attraction
• compaction
• contraction
• detraction
• diffraction
• distraction
• exaction
• extraction
• impaction
• inaction
• infraction

Kids Definition

affirmative action

noun

: the use of laws, policies, and programs giving limited preference to qualified minority groups and women to improve educational and employment opportunities as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination

Legal Definition

affirmative action

noun

: an active effort (as through legislation) to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups or women