Evolving equity for better and fairer education systems

Abstract

Over the past three decades, education systems worldwide have increasingly positioned equity as a central policy objective, yet educational inequity remains a persistent global trend. While inequity is shaped by multiple complex and interconnected factors, one foundational issue that remains under-examined in the research literature is the absence of a shared understanding of what equity in education means. When literature does address that issue, it often examines the lack of common understanding using a single lens, for example, theoretically, between schools, or at the system level. This study is distinctive in examining how equity is understood across global, system, and school levels wi..