equity What does it mean to study equity

equity What does it mean to study “equity issues”?

Equity is not the same as Equality • Equality means sameness or equivalence • Equity “allows for individual differences while working towards a goal of social justice for all” (Khayatt, 2000, p. 260). • Systemic changes, in addition to changes in individual attitudes and actions, are necessary to achieve equity

Didi Khayatt’s racetrack analogy From “Talking equity: Taking up differences in the classroom” Imagine a racetrack and a race with many laps The inside lane is the shortest, “therefore the rules dictate that the starting point of the runners in each lane has to be staggered” (p. 265). After one lap, runners can try to move into the inside lane

Racetrack (in)equity • Imagine a racetrack where only one privileged group is allowed in the inside track for many, many laps • They find themselves ahead of all the other groups • They continue to compete against each other, but, as a group, they always win the race

Racetrack equity ? • Imagine that somehow the barrier crumbles and all the other groups now have access to the inside lane • The privileged group has been on the inside track a long time; they continue to encourage those who look, talk and act like they do • The privileged group continues to win the race

Racetrack and entitlement • When new members of the privileged group join the race, they expect to win, but now they are competing with all other people from all other groups • They feel like they are being disadvantaged • They assume they are entitled to win, like others in their group have done for a long time

New rules for the racetrack • Whenever two people finish the race at the same time, if someone from one of the groups that has been on the outside lanes longer (not a member of the privileged group), wins then …he or she will be declared the winner • Also, additional support and encouragement is given to those who are not from the privileged group to help them win more often, because otherwise those who have been running on the inside lane will continue to win almost all the time

Racetrack analogy for equity • The new rules create a more fair situation • Equity means not just making the same opportunities available to all (e. g. opening the inside track) • Equity means making systemic changes so that the same results can become available to more people (so that those outside the privileged group can ‘win the race’ more often)

Khayatt’s idea of equity • What do you think of the racetrack analogy for equity? • How does equity differ from equality? (explain in your own words) • List some social groups we might find on the outside lanes