Users Guide to the Principles for Professional Conduct
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Principles for Employer Professionals
6. Compliance with EEO and AA Principles
"Employment professionals will maintain equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance and follow affirmative action principles in recruiting activities in a manner that includes the following:"
- Recruiting, interviewing, and hiring individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, and providing reasonable accommodations upon request;
- Reviewing selection criteria for adverse impact based upon the student's race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability;
- Avoiding use of inquiries that are considered unacceptable by EEO standards during the recruiting process;
- Developing a sensitivity to, and awareness of, cultural differences and the diversity of the work force;
- Informing campus constituencies of special activities that have been developed to achieve the employer's affirmative action goals;
- Investigating complaints forwarded by the career services office regarding EEO noncompliance and seeking resolution of such complaints. (See Third Party Principle 3)
(Intent / Rationale / Scenario / Resolution / Resources)
Intent
The recruitment of students from colleges will be carried out in
a manner mirroring the standards of justice in the American employment
system.
Rationale
Inherent in all this entire principle is the notion that employment
justice, as currently defined and implemented by the American court
system, adheres to the notion that
1) hiring must be done in a non-discriminatory manner (EEO) and
2) American society has the moral obligation to remedy the effects
of past employment discrimination, known as compensatory justice.
While there is much debate about the merits of affirmative action,
its moral foundation is a basic tenet of this association.
The challenge to employment professionals recruiting on college
campuses mirrors the dilemma that in some respect is experienced
by any individual or organization that believes in a just hiring
process. Equal employment opportunity is based on the concept of
distributive justice. Distributive justice in part has to
do with the way in which economic decisions are made, which includes
hiring, compensation, and promotion. Several principles can be used
to determine the most equitable way in which to determine the fairness
of distributing benefits, most notably merit. Employees hired or
promoted based on merit are viewed as having done the best, most
related work, as well as possessing the most necessary qualities
to perform the tasks required by the position being filled. Race,
gender, age, ethnicity, religion, etc., would not be seen, except
in the rarest of circumstances, as having anything to do with merit
or having a legitimate place as a selection factor.
Affirmative action, on the other hand, is based on a different theory
of justice, namely compensatory justice. This doctrine is
concerned with compensating someone for a past harm or injustice.
Affirmative action programs are aimed, in part, at compensating
minority groups for years of injustice and injury. Under affirmative
action, a candidate’s race and gender may be factored in to the
recruiting and hiring process. Put simply, equal employment opportunity
negates the consideration of race and gender in hiring decisions,
and affirmative action encourages it. The former is based on one
notion of fairness, the latter on a somewhat contradictory one.
It should also be noted that both the private and public sectors
have come to believe that affirmative action is a means of creating
more diversity in their work forces, which is seen as definite benefit
to the organization, even a need. From an organization and, indeed,
a societal standpoint, an effective affirmative action program allows
for greater use of talent, not to mention empowering organizations
to relate more effectively to their diverse clienteles, be their
customers, or clients.
At the core of an effective affirmative action program is recruitment,
i.e., attracting the interest of targeted populations. Thus employment
professionals in NACE member organizations seeking to meet their
affirmative action goals view campus recruiting as a means of inviting
minority and females to apply, interview, and ultimately accept
an offer of employment. And given their partnership with career
services offices in the recruitment enterprise, employment professionals
will ask for cooperation in reaching these students.
Scenario
An employer seeks to recruit college women and members of minority
groups for a management training program as part of its diversity
enhancement effort.
Resolution
The issue here is not whether or not to court the interest of these
candidates, rather it has to do with how this effort is carried
out. Career services professionals are obliged to provide equal
service and opportunity for all students. But for them to single
out students based on race, ethnicity or gender is unthinkable.
Thus a "minority only" recruitment effort would not be
supported...nor should it be.
Instead, the employer should conceive of a recruitment effort that
encourages minority interest and reaches out to minority group members,
but also is inclusive of all students who might qualify for
the management training program. This effort is most likely to be
successful if it is comprehensive. Advertisement to students may
include wording that encourages minority and female applications,
while also making it clear that all qualified applicants
are welcomed.
The employer should ask the career services office for the names
of advisers and officers of student organizations that contain a
critical mass of minority and female members (e.g., Society of Women
Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers) so that contacts
may be made with these groups. Asking minority and female faculty
in targeted academic areas to announce the organization’s recruitment
efforts and to encourage their minority and female advisees to consider
this employer would also be a means of this special recruiting effort.
Finally, it would also be ethical to have recent minority and female
hires from this college contact former minority and female classmates
to interest them in the organization.
It should be noted that college career services professionals have
a corresponding obligation to support affirmative action efforts.
They must do so, however, in a way that does not compromise their
obligation to provide equal and full service to all campus constituencies.
Asking the career services professional to single out students or
announce minority- or female-only opportunities is not acceptable,
nor is it likely to be warmly received. Similarly, skirting the
career services office and going directly to faculty in an effort
to have them engage in this sort of activity would not be
in keeping with the ethical standards of the Principles.
Resources
Kaplan, Rochelle. "Stay
Within the Law While Building a Diverse Work Force."
Spotlight. September 1, 2000.
NACE Principles for Professional Conduct Committee. "A Faculty Guide to Ethical and Legal Standards in Student Hiring."
NACE Principles for Professional Conduct Committee. "A Faculty Guide to Ethical and Legal Standards in Student Hiring."
NACE. "Nondiscrimination Statement—Employer."
Principle 7. Disclosure
of Student Information
