What are the differences between Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Diversity?
Equal Opportunity refers to employment practices that ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national origin, disability, or any other protected category. Affirmative Action is one aspect of efforts to ensure equal opportunity. The purpose of affirmative action programs is to promote fairness and address the effects of past discrimination by encouraging among other things targeted outreach efforts to attract underutilized minorities and women. Diversity refers to human qualities that differ among groups or individuals. Dimensions of diversity include but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience, and job classification. Although equal opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity are all different, they are interrelated. Together, they provide a strong founda
