Affirmative action as a concept was created in the 1960s through a series of policies at the presidential and legislative levels in the United States. Except in a few circumstances, Affirmative Action does not have the effect of law. For our purposes, affirmative action (AA) programs are planned, special efforts to recruit, hire, and promote women and members of minority groups.

Over the years, support for Affirmative Action declined as firms valued diversity. Valuing diversity is broader in scope than Affirmative Action as it doesn’t focus simply on not discriminating against diverse groups and helping only some of them, sometimes at the expense of others through reverse discrimination. But valuing diversity still has a focus on accepting differences and on helping certain groups. as a means of improving organizational performance.

Most organizations have now moved from to valuing diversity to inclusion—valuing all types of diversity, which includes integrating everyone to work together while maintaining their differences. Inclusion is a practice of ensuring that all employees feel they belong as valued members of the organization. This is a feeling of being respected, being valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that everyone can do their best work.

Many organizations are now using both terms or replacing the word diversity with the term inclusion to better reflect the shift.