From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaffirmative actionafˌfirmative ˈaction noun [uncountable] especially American English SSthe practice of choosing people for a job, college etc who are usually treated unfairly because of their race, sex etc SYN positive discrimination British English
Examples from the Corpus
affirmative action• an affirmative action employer• But religious right leaders had adamantly opposed him because of his views on abortion and affirmative action.• It will attack affirmative action, on the ground that it undermines blacks' confidence that their successes reflect their merits.• Poor blacks dislike the Republican attack on welfare; rich blacks resent the Republican criticism of affirmative action.• The main dissent came from conservative Republicans who saw the compromise as merely disguising an administration capitulation on affirmative action and quotas.• These people are usually drawn from the employee assistance, human resources, health promotion, affirmative action or equal employment departments.• J., it could put into jeopardy the routine affirmative action moves made by private and public employers nationwide.• In relation to affirmative action, it was felt that the Act is very unclear about what is and what is not permitted.• Weber, has been read as giving employers a largely free hand to use affirmative action in hiring, promotions and layoffs.From Longman Business Dictionaryaffirmative actionafˌfirmative ˈaction [uncountable]HUMAN RESOURCES when employers give jobs or other opportunities to people who are normally treated unfairly because of their race, sex etcaffirmative action programs → action 