My viewpoint, and that of many educators, has shifted from equality to equity. Education now serves as a route to fairness for everyone.

DR. DAVID PEAT, INTERNATIONAL CURRICULUM CONSULTANT, AUTHOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST (April 1991–April 2022)

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Equity is fairness in action.

Empathy is a basic human quality that contributes to our prosperity as a society. When we choose not to use our empathy toward others, we disconnect ourselves from the people who can strengthen our position in a competitive world.

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Life is a competition.

There isn't enough for everyone. Why would I help weak people get stronger, especially if I don't know them?

Is this the truth?

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Look closer.

What is the difference between equality and equity? How do we fix systemic challenges in our lives, at work, and in our society?

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Equality

Yes, we are all human beings; unfortunately, that is where equality stops. Equality sounds good, but changes nothing. It ends up amplifying the unfair systemic problems we experience. Our differences get in the way, especially when survival is at stake.



Everyone gets the same opportunity to receive support. Equal support for the rich, the poor, and those in between produces unfair results. The disadvantaged remain disadvantaged. The advantaged gain more advantage.

Equity

Equity is not "Equality". Affirmative Action produces equity until the system imbalance is resolved. Until then, everyone gets only what they personally need to be competitive and continue playing the game. Our favourite athletes do it all the time when they wear knee sleeves or wear ankle support.

Equity allows everyone to adapt to the system's inconveniences. Opportunities are open to everyone because the disadvantaged receive support that levels the playing field and removes unfair advantages caused by an imperfect system of rules and regulations.

Reality

We live in a competitive world. Many of us believe the strongest genes should survive while the weaker genes should be allowed to "die out" through natural selection. Who decides what counts as stronger or weaker? In what context? What criteria determine who gets to be in power? Is self-sacrifice a strength or a weakness?

To get ahead, some of us cheat, steal, and devalue others to create rules and policies that support their fear-based beliefs about scarcity and lack. Many of us believe cheating is simply natural selection taking its course and should not be interfered with or delayed by social policies that support the disadvantaged. We are delaying the inevitable outcome when we allow the weak to survive. More for the rest of us is the overriding philosophy driving this worldview. This is living by the law of the jungle. This is the harsh reality experienced by many around the globe.

Resolution

We are both an intelligent and an instinctual species. We can invent new ways to adapt to changing or threatening conditions. This is why we educate our children and remain learners as adults.

Learning is priceless because it lets us adapt and learn from our mistakes to create new value. We innovate because we learn to coordinate our strengths and talents to revise past solutions or simply remove the barriers that created our problems in the first place. This is life at its best. Love and the impulse to thrive drive this approach.