1101gir Assessment

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dynamic society in which all individuals, regardless of sex, race etc., will benefit from the success of the talented (Hoffman and Graham, 2006, pp. 60–74). However, in practise it would be impossible to ensure that competition is fair without resorting to radical egalitarianism. Creating a society based on equal opportunity would require substantial spending on education and potentially intervention in family life (Hoffman and Graham, 2006, pp. 60–74). If compared, equality of opportunity is the more ethical of the two types, as its aim is to provide the maximum amount of benefit to the most people possible and harm as few as possible. The students applying to the university are all given equal opportunity to do so and selection is based on their merits. Opportunity provides motivation for students to achieve greater results and fosters competition. Furthermore, applying equality of outcome to students could risk glossing over each students individual choices, ambitions, goals, history, upbringing and interests (Goodwin, 2007, pg. 401).

The author does not consider that two types of equality intersect. It can be argued that equality of outcome can function as a marker for equality of opportunity – if there are significantly unequal outcomes, then this would indicate that there is no an adequate equality of opportunity. This has not necessarily been proven by the article.

This essay has analysed Boliver’s article, attempting to portray how the author understands the concept of equality. Equality of outcome and opportunity have been defined and compared. In this article, it is very clear that the author supports the concept of equality of outcome, through her recommendation that for universities to rectify the positive bias towards white students, admissions must be made anonymous (i.e. relate solely to test scores) and that universities must adopt quotas for ethnic minorities (Boliver, 2015).

Reference List

Alexander, C. and Arday, J. (2015) Runnymede perspectives aiming higher race, inequality and diversity in the academy. Available at: http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Aiming%20Higher.pdf (Accessed: 15 April 2016).

Boliver, V. (2015) Universities must aim higher on ethnic equality and diversity. Available at: http://theconversation.com/universities-must-aim-higher-on-ethnic-equality-and-diversity-37073 (Accessed: 15 April 2016).

Goodwin, B. (2007) Using political ideas. 5th edn. United Kingdom: Wiley, John & Sons.

Heywood, A. (2014) Global politics. 2nd edn. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hoffman, J. and Graham, P. (2006) Introduction to political concepts. New York: Longman/Pearson Education.