Understanding & Interpreting Affirmative Action Goals

UC Davis is committed to making a best faith effort to ensure we generate a diverse & talented applicant pool for all of our recruitments.

This commitment is guided by an understanding that a diverse workforce is necessary to promote innovation, creativity, and inclusive excellence. Additionally, our workforce should reflect the students, patients, and communities we serve. Affirmative Action goals are one way we identify positions where we need to cast a wide net to attract a diverse pool. Affirmative Action goals are not quotas. Rather, the University sets affirmative action goals with the expectation that hiring managers conduct inclusive recruitment when there is a job opening. It is the University's policy to select the best qualified person for the job and to document recruitment/selection efforts.

Our affirmative action goals are also driven by our status as an employer that receives federal contract and grant funds. As such, we are obligated to maintain an affirmative action plan and stay in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations. Consistent with these legal requirements, UC Davis takes affirmative actions to address underutilization in our workforce for women, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

Affirmative Action Program

Our affirmative action program serves as a working document that outlines the gender, race, veteran and disability status of our current staff at UC Davis within different job groups, and compares that to the availability of qualified candidates locally, statewide, and nationally. If our employee demographics fall short of the corresponding availability of qualified candidates within a job group, then we set a corresponding Affirmative Action goal. These goals inform our recruitment efforts and helps hiring managers identify job boards, outreach events, community organizations, and other resources to reach diverse prospective staff.

It is best-practice to embed diversity into all aspects of your recruitment efforts, and establish consistent pipelines to reach prospective candidates who may fall outside of the normal channels of recruitment. While affirmative action goals provide some direction, our commitment to inclusive excellence requires we strive for diversity in all its forms in our applicant pools.

For a detailed overview of how Affirmative Action Goals are established, visit the Equal Opportunity Employment & Affirmative Action Overview page.
To learn more about strategies to recruit & hire diverse applicant pools for your open positions, visit the Attracting, Selecting, and Hiring Diverse Candidates page.