The blank should be left with "affirmative action".
Explanation:
Affirmative action and diversity programs, although many times mistaken as being the same thing, are hugely different from one another. Affirmative action is a punitive policy that compensates for past discrimination, and seeks to give preference on employment opportunities to minorities, punishing organizations for not meeting the ratios imposed by them on race and gender of their employees. Diversity programs, on the contrary, does not punish but encourage the employers to integrate in their work force very different people with diverse personalities and abilities, achieving a much stronger social integration.
Answer: without a start codon transcription would not start. Without a stop codon, transcription would continue beyond what should have been the termination point.
