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Equality of Opportunity

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Submitted By saniat93
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Essay Assignment: Equality of Opportunity
Part 1:
Formal equality of opportunity refers to the requirement that” positions and posts that confer superior advantages should be open to all applicants” (“Equality of Opportunity”). In essence, formal equality of opportunity advocates that all applications are evaluated on their merits and achievements. It states that positions should be offered to applicants who are deemed most qualified in accordance with the appropriate criteria for the position. Although formal equality disallows deliberate omission of people established on race or gender, it does not disallow “statistical discrimination” (“Equality of Opportunity”). Statistical discrimination refers to the use of stereotypes that are “sufficiently accurate” to treat all members of a group the same without devoting any additional resources to determine the actual qualities that are unique to each individual group member. The aforementioned comments regarding statistical discrimination may be disregarded by some as the concept of statistical discrimination is in conflict with the fundamental idea behind formal equality of opportunity. Judging people based on stereotypes that are statistically significant is an idea opposed to giving everyone a clean slate and a judgment based solely on their merits which is the core idea behind formal equality of opportunity.
Substantive equality of opportunity can have two alternative definitions. Firstly, substantive equality of opportunity claims that “applications are fairly judged on their merits and the most meritorious are selected, and sufficient opportunity to develop the qualifications needed for successful application is available to all” (“Equality of Opportunity”). Furthermore, it only prevails “with respect to some desirable position or ranked order of positions just in case all members of society are eligible to apply

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