A Comparative Analysis on Affirmative Action Policies between the U.S.A. and Korea

This study compared affirmative action(AA) policies between the United States and Korea, and discovered substantial differences between their policies, with respect to their legal basis, cultural backgrounds, key foci, enforcement, and effects on workplace. The American AA policy has aimed at elimination of racial and gender discriminations to foster their equal employment opportunities. Enforced strictly and consistently during the 1960s and 1970s, the American policy has catalyzed the advent of multiculturalism in the American workplace, and diversity management. In Korea, the primary objective was to get rid of employment discrimination against women for a better utilization of women workforce. While the American policy was focused on both racial diversity and gender diversity for a broad inclusion, the Korean AA policy emphasizes gender diversity only, and thus fails to address the issues of racial diversity that is expected to increase due to the recent influx of immigrant workers, and growing number of children of multi-cultural families. According to the findings, Korean firms should consider adopting diversity management and integrative HRM strategies to fully utilize the potentials of the diverse workforce for gaining sustainable competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Also Korean government needs to enforce the AA policy more strictly and consistently, and should consider adding legal provisions for equal employment opportunities for immigrants and multicultural families.