Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12188
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dc.contributor.authorSheridan, Alison Janeen
dc.contributor.authorGates, G Richarden
dc.date.accessioned2013-02-28T15:05:00Z-
dc.date.created1995en
dc.date.issued1998-
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12188-
dc.description.abstractIn 1986 the 'Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act' was passed by the Australian federal government to address the problem of inequality of employment opportunity for women in Australia. Equal employment opportunity was the stated goal of the legislation and affirmative action was the name given to the interventionary practices designed to achieve the goal. Organisations covered by the legislation are required to implement affirmative action programs and report to the Affirmative Action Agency annually, outlining their programs. This thesis explores the 'practice' of affirmative action from two major perspectives. The first perspective involves a description of the types of affirmative action policies that organisations covered by the legislation reported to the Affirmative Action Agency. In the absence of a descriptive typology of affirmative action policies in Australia, one was developed which distinguished among five types of affirmative action policies - 'temperamental', 'work & family', 'non-traditional', 'social structural' and 'opportunities'. This typology was then used to classify the affirmative action policies of 288 organisations with well developed affirmative action programs in place. The most commonly reported policies were 'social structural'; that is, policies seeking to ensure personnel practices within the organisations were non discriminatory. Policies which challenged the 'traditional order' within organisations (that is, 'non–traditional' and 'opportunities' policies) were less common than those primarily concerned with removing discriminatory practices. In the second part of the thesis, the 'practice' of affirmative action was examined in three organisations which were, by standards set by the Affirmative Action Agency, 'exemplary' performers in affirmative action. The focus of this part of the thesis was on how employees within these organisations perceived the affirmative action programs in place in their organisations, and their employment opportunities. The findings from interviews and subsequent surveys of employees suggest that despite the various efforts of these companies to create an environment in which women and men enjoy the same employment opportunities, the goal has yet to be fully achieved. A significant percentage of women perceived their employment opportunities to be somewhat less than those of men and that the employment processes were not 'fair'. This suggests that the promise of affirmative action has yet to be fulfilled; the practice has not matched the rhetoric. From the insights gained from employees' perceptions of affirmative action and their work environments and consideration of the pertinent literature, some strategies for enhancing the practice of affirmative action are canvassed.en
dc.languageenen
dc.titleBeyond the Rhetoric: The Practice of Affirmative Action in Australiaen
dc.typeThesis Doctoralen
dcterms.accessRightsUNE Greenen
local.contributor.firstnameAlison Janeen
local.contributor.firstnameG Richarden
dcterms.RightsStatementCopyright 1995 - Alison Jane Sheridanen
dc.date.conferred1998en
local.thesis.degreelevelDoctoralen
local.thesis.degreenameDoctor of Philosophyen
local.contributor.grantorUniversity of New Englanden
local.profile.schoolBusiness Economics and Public Policyen
local.profile.emailasherida@une.edu.auen
local.output.categoryT2en
local.record.placeauen
local.record.institutionUniversity of New Englanden
local.identifier.epublicationsrecordvtls008586632en
local.title.subtitleThe Practice of Affirmative Action in Australiaen
local.access.fulltextYesen
local.contributor.lastnameSheridanen
local.contributor.lastnameGatesen
dc.identifier.staffune-id:asheridaen
local.profile.roleauthoren
local.profile.rolesupervisoren
local.identifier.unepublicationidune:12394en
dc.identifier.academiclevelAcademicen
local.title.maintitleBeyond the Rhetoricen
local.output.categorydescriptionT2 Thesis - Doctorate by Researchen
local.thesis.borndigitalnoen
local.search.authorSheridan, Alison Janeen
local.search.supervisorGates, G Richarden
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/671d1e12-e32d-47cd-88bf-2c0093ada5eden
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/0efee64d-2871-4f86-ba1c-9a41bb83fa8den
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/6ddf885d-b71c-44c6-9502-69972976ec31en
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/6921f953-6482-43a6-ae13-fdf82ccfcc1fen
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/45157d3a-3aa5-4534-b336-fc13d6416c1aen
local.open.fileurlhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/39eb4e37-b6aa-4948-a3e2-3c96196586a9en
local.uneassociationYesen
local.year.conferred1998en
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/45157d3a-3aa5-4534-b336-fc13d6416c1aen
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/6921f953-6482-43a6-ae13-fdf82ccfcc1fen
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/6ddf885d-b71c-44c6-9502-69972976ec31en
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/0efee64d-2871-4f86-ba1c-9a41bb83fa8den
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/671d1e12-e32d-47cd-88bf-2c0093ada5eden
local.fileurl.openhttps://rune.une.edu.au/web/retrieve/39eb4e37-b6aa-4948-a3e2-3c96196586a9en
Appears in Collections:Thesis Doctoral
UNE Business School
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