Impressions from ENLIGHT Winter School "Equity and Equality in Education and Medicine"
The ENLIGHT online winter school “Equity and Equality in Education and Medicine” took place on 15-19 November. The interactive online 5-day winter school focused on human rights, equity and equal treatment through case studies, practitioners’ experiences, and researchers’ studies.
Equal treatment as a principle and as a practice is often discussed in the context of minorities. The emphasis has been on the integration of foreigners and providing a more fair starting point to individuals who might fall under the category of a ‘vulnerable group.’ However, equal treatment does not always circle minorities and assure either equality or equity. It is as much linked with majority groups as with minority groups. Furthermore, equal treatment is not always equal to all the individuals involved. It can cause more harm than good in the short- and long-term whether we keep in mind the wellbeing of individuals, their connection with the local government or the state, or providing constant wind for the propaganda mills of populists or extremists.
Participant Gabriel Ceballos says: "The conversation and debate around equality and equity is growing around the world and this is generating a variety of reactions. Today, those of us who are trying to learn how to communicate and raise awareness about the importance of this topic seem to have more solid evidence from authors, researchers, and practitioners of different fields on the damages caused by growing and perpetuating inequalities across societies." Read more from his blog post: https://blog.ut.ee/equality-and-equity-whats-in-it-for-me/