Overcoming a legacy of racial discrimination
Competing policy goals in South African academia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4763255 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robin Cowan (BETA, University of Strasbourg , Strasbourg, Grand Est, France), Moritz Müller (0000-0001-7593-3516, BETA, University of Strasbourg , Strasbourg, Grand Est, France), Alan Kirman (0000-0002-4152-6522, CAMS, Ecole des Hautes Etudes de Sciences Sociales , Paris, France), Helena Barnard (0000-0002-5690-5023, GIBS, University of Pretoria , Johannesburg, South Africa) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1413-1449 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Socio-Economic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ser/mwad043 |
| OpenAlex | W3213886078 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 32 |
Because discrimination is systemic, efforts to counter it must also be systemic. The South African case is instructive because it is extreme: Apartheid deliberately excluded the majority of the population, Black South Africans, from fully participating in society, but post-Apartheid efforts to achieve transformation have had limited success. This article examines the university system, where transformation involves increasing the size of the system; improving scientific quality and changing the racial composition. This will require more Black South Africans to do PhDs, to select academic careers and to be selected into the top universities. Policy interventions can be developed for each of these elements, but will they be complementary or contradictory? We simulate a calibrated model to address this question. Results reveal direct trade-offs, with different combinations resulting in different benefits. By highlighting the differential gains of different policy combinations, this article can support informed policy-making about a highly complex issue
African american · Black african · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Population · Psychological intervention · Quality (philosophy · Race (biology · Sociology · Diversity and Career in Medicine · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · Gender Studies
Studies in scientific collaboration
Systematic inequality and hierarchy in faculty hiring networks
Massification and Diversity of Higher Education Systems
Quantifying the Life-Cycle Benefits of an Influential Early-Childhood Program
A Markov Model of Referral-Based Hiring and Workplace Segregation
Transformation
Including Mechanisms in Our Models of Ascriptive Inequality
The Reform of the Academic Profession in South Africa in the Context of Historical Legacies and Global Pressures
Sociological Perspectives on Racial Discrimination
The Sociology of Discrimination
Birds of a Feather
The Race Discrimination System
The effects of affirmative action in higher education
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |