Affirmative Action in the Labour Market:
International Perspectives

2-3 November 2009
10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH

Convenors: Professor Anthony Heath FBA and Professor Christopher McCrudden FBA

Programme

Affirmative action – taking race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase diversity – is an issue of increasing concern to both policy makers and academics. However, although there has been extensive analysis of these measures in individual countries, their effectiveness has not as yet been rigorously assessed comparatively or from a cross-disciplinary perspective.

Based on papers by the leading authorities on those jurisdictions that have most experience of the use of such measures, including Canada, Fiji, India, Malaysia, Namibia, Northern Ireland, South Africa and the USA, this conference will provide the first major comparative study by the leading authorities on this topic.

About the Convenors

Anthony Heath is a sociologist who specialises in the quantitative analysis of survey data, with a particular interest in ethnic and religious inequalities. With Sin Yi Cheung he edited Unequal Chances: Ethnic Minorities in Western Labour Markets for the British Academy. Christopher McCrudden is a specialist in human rights law and recently published Buying Social Justice (OUP, 2007). They have been working together on a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation assessing the affirmative action programme in Northern Ireland.

Registration

Registration is required for this event. 

This conference is jointly
sponsored by the
Nuffield Foundation

Illustration: Protesters defend and oppose affirmative action. AP/Press Association.