Masters Degrees (Education Policy Studies)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Education Policy Studies) by Subject "Affirmative action programs in education -- South Africa -- Evaluation"

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    Exploring the tension between the discourses of affirmative action and the knowledge economy
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Waglay, Afsar Ali; Bak, Nelleke; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa needs to ensure equal opportunity for all to higher education, and given that it also needs to correct the drastic imbalances brought about by apartheid, affirmative action is seen as a strategy to pursue both goals. Affirmative action is comprised of programs and policies that grant favorable treatment on the basis of race or gender to government-defined “disadvantaged” individuals. However, affirmative action is not without its own challenges and difficulties. The main question that this thesis addresses is “what are the tensions between applying affirmative action policies in South African higher education institutions and the demands of a knowledge economy within a globalised world?” I argue that though universities need to be more demographically representative and broaden access to previously disadvantaged individuals by adjusting entry requirements, they cannot compromise on their quality of graduates by adjusting their exit criteria in line with racial representivity. That would undermine the very worth of higher education as a social good, the dignity of the individual graduate, as well as the economic growth of the country. Accusations that affirmative action is merely “reverse discrimination” are refuted by an appeal to Rawls’s Principle of Difference which holds that policies of inequality can be socially just. Drawing on Charles Taylor and Wally Morrow, I posit that within a democracy, affirmative action should be seen as a shared rather than a convergent good for broadening access to quality education. But whereas broadening formal access seems like a legitimate and necessary step to address the inherited inequities, the broadening of epistemological access would undermine the very aims of quality education. Furthermore, I argue that formal access should be driven by the politics of difference, but that epistemological access that ensures educational success should be driven by the politics of equal dignity. In order to see how some of these concepts and policies of affirmative action play out in an actual institution, I look at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Here the main debates relating to its affirmative action policy are whether demographic representivity is the only outcome for evaluating the success of affirmative action, and whether “disadvantaged” individuals should be selected on criteria other than race. It also considers whether its affirmative action policies could compromise its functioning and ability to supply quality qualifications to the required number of disadvantaged individuals. There is no easy and simple answer to whether affirmative action in fact promotes equal opportunity to higher education and equips all South African graduates with the necessary skills for a knowledge economy. It would be therefore important to do further research on what nonrace based affirmative action policies might entail while keeping in mind the shifts in the global economy and the need for academic rigor. Furthermore, more longitudinal research needs to be done on the complex consequences of affirmative action, on both an individual level with issues of identity and career mobility, and on a broader socio-economic level with issues of economic growth and social welfare.