Overcoming a legacy of racial discrimination: competing policy goals in South African academia

Robin Cowan, Moritz Müller, Alan Kirman and Helena Barnard
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Robin Cowan: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Moritz Müller: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Alan Kirman: EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Helena Barnard: Gordon Institute of Business Science - University of Pretoria [South Africa]

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Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Discrimination; Universities; Public policy; Labor market institutions; Social change; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07-01
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Published in Socio-Economic Review, 2024, 22 (3), pp.1413-1449. ⟨10.1093/ser/mwad043⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05301792

DOI: 10.1093/ser/mwad043

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