Premium
Employment equity in Canada: Making sense of employee discourses of misunderstanding, resistance, and support
Author(s) -
McGowan Rosemary A.,
Ng Eddy S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
canadian public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1754-7121
pISSN - 0008-4840
DOI - 10.1111/capa.12171
Subject(s) - equity (law) , legislation , political science , pay equity , public relations , resistance (ecology) , perception , sociology , psychology , labour economics , economics , law , ecology , neuroscience , biology
Employment equity initiatives – redressing past inequities or discrimination by promoting the hiring of members of underrepresented groups – are controversial and divisive. Although a national Gallup poll (1993) indicated 74 % of Canadians felt a person's qualifications should solely determine hiring decisions, many have little knowledge and understanding of the issue. Adopting a discourse analytic framework, this research explores employees’ understandings and perceptions of an employment equity initiative in a mid‐sized Canadian organization. Employment equity was seen as problematic and not well understood, and individuals eligible for employment equity initiatives were marginalized. This study contributes to identifying the misunderstandings and underlying sources of tensions with employment equity principles, legislation and administrative regimes.