Are we missing the point about ‘equity’?

Over the past few weeks, the word “equity” has almost become a pejorative.

One writer on the en website expressed his concern about the modern use of the term in this way: “In reality, every teacher (for example) has experienced privileged pupils who squandered their position, disadvantaged ones who triumphed over their circumstances, and all shades in between. Focus on equal outcomes by statistic ignores the contribution of the human will. It makes it impossible to praise the successful or chide the failure, because everything is reduced to a mechanical matter of inputs and outputs.”

Yet the truth of his statement needs to be tempered with an acknowledgement that there are situations of genuine powerlessness which can’t be remedied by heartlessly demanding unassisted self-improvement. In those situations, what’s required is equity.