Higher Education Under Fire: Equity Policies in a Polarized World

Universities have faced an exceptional wave of backlash against the promotion of equity in access to and success in higher education in recent years, even in countries with a long democratic tradition. This article analyzes the forms and consequences of this backlash and outlines the type of research needed to monitor the impact of measures and actions to continue the promotion of equity and inclusion in higher education.

Around the world, many young people face challenging circumstances beyond their own control due to discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, geographical origin, socioeconomic background, or other attributes that drastically affect their educational opportunities. At the tertiary level, they encounter additional barriers related to the cost of studying, lack of social capital, insufficient academic preparation, low motivation, and lack of access to information about labor market prospects.

After decades of relentless efforts to improve equity in access to and success in higher education, universities have suddenly come under fire. In 2022, the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan prohibited all female students from accessing university education. In Hungary, the government revoked the accreditation of gender studies programs at all universities in 2018 and stopped funding them. Since 2022, the US state of Florida has passed bills forbidding public universities and colleges from spending money on equity and inclusion programs, restricted academic freedom, and eliminated sociology, Black history, and gender studies programs. These measures have led to censorship of textbooks and banning of hundreds of books in libraries.

These examples are but three illustrations of an exceptional wave of backlash against higher education equity programs in recent years, even in countries with a long democratic tradition. While the United States is the most glaring case, especially after the elimination of affirmative action by the Supreme Court in June 2023 and the systematic dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, first in Republican states and now nation-wide after the reelection of Trump, political hostility toward the equity and inclusion agenda has spread to many parts of the world.

The reversal against equity promotion policies has taken several forms: exclusion of targeted groups (women, LGBTIQ+, members of ethnic minorities, and low-income students), elimination of equity promotion measures, prohibition of courses, censorship, and book banning. In the same way as Senator McCarthy used the threat of communism to purge universities in the United States from suspected communists in the early 1950s, the term “woke” has become a negative catchword justifying the removal of opportunities for students from underprivileged groups and the condemnation of scholars researching social justice issues not only in the United States, but also in Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Even though the span and gravity of restrictions vary substantially from one country to another, it is perplexing to witness the convergence of higher education policies followed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran’s ayatollahs, the prime minister of Hungary, and the Republican party in the United States, whose members have not hidden their admiration for Viktor Orbán. There is a clear alignment between actions targeting universities in Hungary and Governor DeSantis’ laws against equity promotion in Florida. A direct connection can also be found between the antigay policy of several African countries and the influence of evangelist churches from the United States who have supported them with millions of dollars, together with the Russian government.

Besides the exclusionary nature of the measures taken against equity promotion programs for the groups directly affected, the backlash is adversely impacting higher education in the form of attacks against academic freedom, reduced institutional autonomy, loss of independence of accreditation agencies, a climate of fear in academic communities, and unhinged hostility of politicians against universities.

Looking forward, it will be important to monitor how higher education systems and institutions recover from the present backlash against equity promotion policies. In countries still governed by the rule of law, using democratic processes is the most effective way of reversing the negative consequences of the anti-equity backlash. The 2023 changes of government in Brazil and Poland meant that the anti-LGBT and antigender studies agenda was abandoned. Another option is to demand compliance with international legislation commitments and adherence to the democratic principles that underlie equity promotion policies. Universities could also find indirect ways of overcoming access barriers when affirmative action is prohibited, for example by using proxies such as income and signs of resilience to identify and support underprivileged students.

Perhaps the most adequate strategy to thwart the backlash against equity policies is to build and disseminate a strong body of evidence to explain why equity and inclusion are indispensable to maintain high-quality universities in democratic societies. While the attacks against equity are ideological and often based on misrepresentations and inaccuracies, academic research on the impact of equity promotion programs must remain objective to demonstrate how these efforts can correct past injustices and eliminate existing disparities in access and success.

Democratic countries that have allowed the “thought police” to interfere with academic freedom and put restrictions on equity promotion programs in higher education ought to ponder the wise observation offered by Bertrand Russell when he was asked how fascism started: “First, they fascinate the fools. Then they muzzle the intelligent.”

Jamil Salmi is emeritus professor of higher education policy at Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile. E-mail: [email protected].