From Equality To Equity - The Path Towards Trully Inclusive Education

Recently the Department of Gender Equality at The Slovak Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family was renamed the Department of Equality Between Men and Women and Equal Opportunities. Set aside the real purpose of the new name of this department - which is the deliberate erasure of the very existence of gender and of transgender folks - considering what exactly this department should be trying to achieve, I find the phrase "equal opportunities" much more fitting than the term "equality". When it comes to the topic of social equality and social justice we often try to strip it down to the sole erasure of legislative differences in accessing positions of power, jobs, places at universities and so on. And when I say "we" are trying to simplify this topic, we as social justice activists are also complicit. This simplification of the topic of equality is driven by our desperate attempt to make equality sound easily achievable in order to accommodate the needs of the most privileged groups in our society. Because the moment we openly admit, that achieving equality means working to dismantle the systems of oppression we live in, as well as de-prioritizing the needs of those in power, we receive much more backlash specifically from those in positions of power, and our activist work becomes much more difficult. However, it is time to move away from equality and start to talk about our actual goal - equity. The list of examples is endless. Equality in accessing higher education might mean requiring everyone to take the same entering exam and score above a certain minimal range of points. Equity, on the other hand, would take into account the immense privilege of the majority population as well as the often insurmountable disadvantages of marginalized communities, and, consequently, modify the requirements based on these differences in starting positions. The gender wage gap in the context of equality might mean paying a man and a woman in the same position the same amount of money. Equity, however, goes further and also examines the differences in the monetary value of traditionally "female-dominated jobs" and what's considered "male-dominated jobs" as well as the reasons for valuing typically male-dominated jobs more. Equality means having legislation in place that makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their ethnicity, race or religion. Equity would study the implicit biases we all have when it comes to people of colour or - in our geographical context - non-Christians, and how these biases impact our decision-making processes, for example, in an in-person exam with non-randomized questions. The question is - do we, the majority population, strive for equity - meaning, equal OPPORTUNITIES for everyone - or are we satisfied with only equality - thus, equal requirements for everyone, without considering our privileges and disadvantages. And, if we strive for equity, are we willing to take steps in order to holistically approach inclusivity in an academic setting in the context of social justice?