 Supporters of affirmative action for women justify the need for such plans on the basis of historical discrimination and lack of opportunity for women in many traditionally male dominated fields.Under a substantive equality framework, affirmative action for women is a way of acknowledging that men and women are not always similarly situated with respect to employment because of women's historical exclusion from traditionally male occupations.By this way of thinking, affirmative action can help level the playing field for women trying to break into a male-dominated field.