Inequality is one of the most enduring features of our nation’s higher education system. Racial/ethnic and class-based disparities in college access, enrollment, and completion persist despite years of programmatic and policy efforts to counteract them...Clearly, American higher education has an equity problem.

-Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux & Estela Mara Bensimon, Center for Urban Education

Defining Equity

It is helpful to begin this module with some definitions, to ensure that we have a shared understanding of the meaning of "equity."

"In education, the term equity refers to the principle of fairness...Inequities occur when biased or unfair policies, programs, practices, or situations contribute to a lack of equality in educational performance, results, and outcomes." --The Glossary of Education Reform

"Equity is grounded in the principle of fairness. In higher education, equity refers to ensuring that each student receives what they need to be successful through the intentional design of the college experience." --Achieving the Dream, Equity Statement

"Equity...ensures that everyone has the resources they need to succeed." --Portland Community College, Diversity Definitions

"Equity refers to achieving parity in student educational outcomes, regardless of race and ethnicity." --Center for Urban Education, Equity and Student Success

"While equality implies similar treatment, equity calls for deeper considerations of pre-existing power structures and economic conditions that have already distributed advantage and disadvantage unequally and unfairly." --San Francisco Financial Justice Project, Long Overdue

"Equality is about distribution; equity is about justice." --Jorge Reina Schement, Vice Chancellor of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the New Brunswick Chancellor's Office, qtd. in Kranich

Equality vs. Equity

Although equality and equity are often used interchangeably, there are important differences between the two. Equality is often distilled to the idea of "sameness," while equity is distilled to the idea of fairness.

Please take a look at this widely-used image depicting the difference between equality and equity. This is a very helpful starting point for understanding the concepts, although is not without criticism.

Equality: 3 people, each standing on 1 box, trying to see a baseball game over a fence. The smallest person cannot see the game. Equity: The same image, but now the tallest person has no box to stand on, the middle-size person has 1 box, and the smallest person has 2 boxes. All 3 can now see the game.

It might be helpful to view a few other graphic depictions of equity. Which resonates the most with you?

"Ladders" metaphor - Center for Urban Education, USC (text equivalent for ladders image)
Sunflower metaphor - Doug Thompson, State Dept. (text equivalent for sunflower image)
Racetrack metaphor - Paul Kuttner, Cultural Organizing (text equivalent for racetrack image)

Textbox: Malcom-Piqueux, L., & and Bensimon, E. M. (2017). Taking equity-minded action to close equity gaps. Peer Review, 19(2).

Icons: "Green quotes" by Aloha Sargent is in the Public Domain, CC0 / A derivative from the original work

"The Glossary of Education Reform" by Great Schools Partnership is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Achieving the Dream. (n.d.). Equity statement.

Portland Community College. (n.d.). Diversity definitions.

Center for Urban Education. (n.d.). Equity and student success.

San Francisco Financial Justice Project. (2019, January). Long overdue: Eliminating fines on overdue materials to improve access to San Francisco Public Library.

Kranich, N. (n.d.). Equity and the American Library Association

Image: "Equality vs. Equity" by Angus Maguire, Interaction Institute for Social Change, is licensed under CC BY 4.0