Equity in Higher Education: Evidences, Policies and Practices. Setting the Scene

Abstract

Widening access to higher education became an issue of political concern after the Second World War. It aimed both at improving social justice by granting conditions of access to all social groups and by improving economic performance because a more educated population would contribute to the economic competitiveness of countries. Equity has two components, fairness—which implies that personal and social circumstances do not hinder achieving educational potential, and inclusion, which means that all are able to attain a basic standard of education. It was believed that social inequalities could be reduced through the massification of higher education and, although some progress has been made in terms of increased participation, inequalities seem to persist. Much of what happens in terms of inequity is related to higher education being a positional good. Social groups from deprived backgrounds are not in a good position to compete for positional goods, which have a tendency to be monopolised by social groups from privileged backgrounds. The positional character of higher education makes fairness difficult to attain. Inclusion policies, by promoting a progressive increase of parents with higher education degrees will contribute in a safe, even if slow way, to progressively lower the level of inequity.