Affirmative Action Essays (485 words) - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Affirmative Action President John F. Kennedy used the phrase affirmative action in March of 1961, when he put into effect Executive Order 10925. The order required every federal contract to include the pledge that The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin. The Contractor will take affirmative action, to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. However, in 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson felt that in order to achieve fairness more was need than just a commitment to impartial treatment. Months later, President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which stated that It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because or race, creed, color or national origin, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program in each department and agency. Two years later, the order was amended to prohibit discrimination based on sex. Today, it is argued that the affirmative action policy has resulted in reverse discrimination, as well as an increase in racial tension. Those in opposition feel that it is undemocratic to give one class of citizens advantages at the expense of other citizens. They feel this policy promotes quotas rather than qualifications. They believe that discrimination on some level is a part of everyone's life and is an inescapable part of forming preferences and taste. Those in favor of affirmative action state that it is not about preferential treatment for certain racial, gender, or ethnic groups, but rather about promoting equality and equal opportunities for everyone. Defenders feel this policy helps level the field for women and minorities that historically have been overlooked and discriminated against. The issue of affirmative action is a sore subject in society. I have mixed feelings on the policy; it can be beneficial as well as harmful to those affected by it. As a woman in the workforce, it is reality to me that segregation based on sex does exist, as well as a wage gap. I feel that women will benefit more from a free market system rather than one controlled by government regulation. In order to meet their quota, employers will promote women and minorities too quickly or into positions, they are not qualified for. Which causes a new dilemma, failure due to premature promotion is seen as confirmation of the inadequacy of their sex or race. Human nature causes us to draw conclusions, judge and categorize others based on their outside appearance on a daily basis. Generally, you associate with those you favor and avoid those who you feel are objectionable or unpleasant. Affirmative action if viewed in a broader historical context, is primarily about equal opportunity in American society. Business

Learning Essays - Behaviorism, Learning, Life Skills, Free Essays

Learning Essays - Behaviorism, Learning, Life Skills, Free Essays Learning From the moment we are born to the day we die, we are constantly learning. Some may think that learning is solely associated with school and or specific training regimens. Some people say they hate learning new things yet they know how to use all the latest technical devices. Even the defiant teenager who refuses to cooperate in class or participate in the discussion is learning. He or she is testing the instructor. The differences between operant conditioning and observational learning are:- Operant conditioning: is based on what happens after we voluntarily perform a behavior. Observational Learning: is to learn new behavior by watching others. Operant conditioning: At the work, one of your co-workers is having trouble with understanding the job. So, you voluntarily helped him/her out. Thats increases your reputation in the work place. After doing that you will get positive from your coworkers. Observational learning: At the workplace, it is forbidden to do something that youve never done it before. Thats why, before you start working on something new, ask someone who knows about that job to show you how to do it. So, you can learn and will be able do it. Prejudice is a learned, generally negative attitude directed toward specific people solely because of their membership in an identified group. Classical conditioning is involuntary responses and operant conditioning is voluntary but we are rewarded or punished for our behavior. You could be overhearing people talk bad about someone and automatically think those people are not the type you would want to be friends with since they are talking bad about someone. Or you can just hear rumors about someone and automatically not like that person. Operant conditioning refers to alteration of behavior by regulating the consequences following it. Reinforcement in is a kind of consequence or a procedure that specifically leads to an increase in frequency of the behavior immediately preceding it. When people gain acceptance from the individuals reference group by discriminating towards another groups or individual, they would then be motivated to continue this discrimination due to the reinforce ment following it. Although, empirical results often showed significant correlation between parents and childs attitude, the correlations were typically low, especially after the child grow up. This suggests that learning theory can only explain part of the reason behind prejudice. Moreover, learning theorists suggested prejudice to be learned from others and therefore unable to explain how prejudice emerges from the very beginning. In a world as fast changing and full of information as our own, every one of us from schoolchildren to college students to working adults needs to know how to learn well. Yet evidence suggests that most of us dont use the learning techniques that science has proved most effective. Worse, research finds that learning strategies we do commonly employ, like rereading and highlighting, are among the least effective. Memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Encoding allows information that is from the outside world to reach our senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first stage we must change the information so that we may put the memory into the encoding process. Storage is the second memory stage or process. This entails that we maintain information over periods of time. Finally the third process is the retrieval of information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our consciousness. Some retrieval attempts ma y be effortless due to the type of information. In my case, I keep myself a diary, recording my daily life, what I did, what I learn and how I feel. I tend to force myself to do things so that it would be a normal thing to do for me. Like keeping a diary, I write it every day as if it is a need for me to keep it update. I used to keep a small notepad in my pocket during elementary and high school. This practice had helped me many times in reminding me what needs to be done every day. Emotional Intelligence, also called EI and often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient or EQ, describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self,