Mapping the Global Quest for Racial Equity in Higher Education
This project explores current practices used to set admission criteria for underrepresented groups within critical skills fields with the aim of establishing whether these practices meet the objective of racial equity. Whilst differentiated access rules in critical fields exist; the practices in use differ across and within countries.
It will compare the critical considerations that underpin the design of the differentiated admissions criteria; the acceptability of such considerations amongst internal institutional and external (social) stakeholders; and the principles applied in the design of the admissions criteria.
It will further assess the trends within institutions and across institutions and map the effect of the admissions criteria on the transformation of the medical sector.
By providing an updated picture of the application and effectiveness of affirmative action criteria in higher education institutions, it will provide insights for activists, policymakers and advocates for racial equity.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
Across the globe, representation of minority race groups in critical academic and professional disciplines has been lagging. The effect of the historical gaps in access and participation, has been an acute underrepresentation of minorities – particularly black people in such fields. In recent decades, various interventions and practices have been implemented in order to facilitate greater access and participation for the underrepresented.
Within the higher education landscape, the application of these affirmative action practices has been observed in critical fields and disciplines like medicine. However, representation gaps persist and the implications of that are a continuation of status quo, will make the goal of achieving racial equity, difficult to attain.
As a result, communities that are serviced by black and minority groups have limited choices when few minority candidates qualify to get in and institutional limitations restrict the numbers of candidates.
Impact
The long-term impact of the project is to define a set of considerations that higher education institutions need to consider in addressing the question of applying admissions processes to facilitate racial equity within their institutions.
The direct impact of the project will be to provide academic institutions and policymakers with an understanding of the current practices. It will also provide insights into the design principles of admissions policies for critical skills fields.
The indirect impact will be on the next generation of black and other underrepresented students whose prospects of entering the higher education space would be compromised if there was to be a universal abolition of affirmative action admission policies.
