Abstract
This instructional case study illustrates applications of demographic concepts, data, and techniques in evaluating affirmative action goals for equalizing employment opportunity. Courts of law addressing employment discrimination disputes need an accurate picture of each minority group's proportion in a pool of prospective employees. The demographic and socioeconomic factors conditioning those proportions vary from place to place. In the situation examined here, the court originally used an imperfect population standard to set hiring goals. The case traces the multiple failures to account for those conditioning influences and describes the resulting distortions of legal purpose. In analyzing this failure, students gain experience in clarifying issues in dispute, devising measures to fit legal standards, and delineating qualified labor pools. Specific instructional applications include: using census data to document how local population structure and composition determine each minority group's presence in the workforce; and using administrative data to delineate the relevant labor pools for setting affirmative action goals. Training is broadly suited to assignments where applied demographers must delineate the ethnic and racial composition of a pool of workers eligible to be hired or promoted.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bolton, N. (1994). The use of population estimates and projections in the court-mandated reapportionment of Los Angeles County, chapter in Kintner et al. (1994).
Bureau of the Census (1992). Census of Population and Housing, 1990: Equal employment opportunity file (EEO) technical documentation.
Clark, W.A.V. (1994). Evaluating boundary changes for discriminatory effect, chapter in Kintner et al. (1994).
Clark, W.A.V. & Morrison, P.A. (1995). Demographic foundations of political empowerment in multiminority cities, Demography 32(2): 183–201.
Epstein, R.A. (1992). Forbidden grounds: the case against employment discrimination laws. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Kintner, H.J. et al., eds. (1994). Demographics: A casebook for business and government. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Morrison, P.A. (1993). More than meets the eye, Chance 6(2): 24–30.
Morrison, P.A. (1998). Charting alternatives to a segregated school admissions policy: Where demographic analysis fits in. Paper presented at the Population Association of America meetings, Chicago.
Rubinfeld, D.L. (1991). Special issue on Statistical and Demographic Issues Underlying Voting Rights Cases, Evaluation Review 15(6): 659–816.
Smith, S.K. (1993). Expert testimony in adversarial legal proceedings: some tips for demographers, Population Research and Policy Review 12(1): 43–52.
Terrie, E.W. (1996). Several Supreme Court decisions and their implications for political redistricting in voting rights context, Population Research and Policy Review 15(5–6): 565–578.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morrison, P. Applying demographic analysis in affirmative action disputes: An instructional case. Population Research and Policy Review 17, 457–478 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006017911057
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006017911057