Americans support diversity in colleges and at work

Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2003

Affirmative Action

A majority of Americans believe affirmative action in college admissions is good for society, according to a recent survey by the Employment Law Alliance (ELA), an integrated network of law firms that specializes in employment and labor law. The survey was part of ELA's "America at Work" series on attitudes toward affirmative action. The survey asked 1,000 adults about their opinion of the recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the University of Michigan cases, their views on affirmative action and the impact on affirmative action in the workplace. The survey found that though most Americans (58 percent) believe affirmative action is good, only 36 percent approved of the Supreme Court rulings. In fact, 45 percent of those surveyed opposed the rulings. Another survey in the series found that a majority of Americans (63 percent) also believed that affirmative action programs for women and minorities in the workplace were good for society. Though 42 percent of those polled believed affirmative action was still necessary in the workplace to achieve diversity, an equal number (42 percent) didn't think it was needed.