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After the Second World War, education in advanced capitalist societies has been perceived as the main 'saviour' of the meritocratic ideal. In this paper I will investigate some of the implications of the lasting emphasis that has been placed upon education in Britain, in the pursuit of a more just and equal society. Initially, I will present two main strands of thought vis-a-vis meritocracy. I will then show how these different approaches have shaped the pertinent debate. The main line of reasoning will be that the 'meritocracy through education' discourse can potentially conceal inequalities and injustices in contemporary market-driven British society. This contention will be supported by evidence from social mobility research, which clearly indicates that the expansion of educational provision and the increase in educational qualifications of the past 60 years has done little to eliminate social class differences and associated privileges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arabs in Israel are a heterogeneous but largely underprivileged minority with a history of disadvantage in several domains, including education and employment. In this paper, we document changes in their attainment of various educational levels across cohorts born from the mid-1920s to the 1970s. We make comparisons among different Arab religious groups, between men and women, and between Arabs and the majority Jewish populations in Israel. We find that over consecutive birth cohorts, substantial ethnic differences in educational attainment have narrowed at the lower levels of schooling, but have increased at higher levels. Moreover, the results indicate that the disadvantage of Muslim Arabs in terms of entry into and completion of high school can be accounted for only partially by differences in the social status of their parents and characteristics of their neighbourhoods. The findings suggest that long-term historical differences among groups and discriminatory practices towards Arabs are important factors in explanations of disparities in educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly the social, educational, cultural, linguistic, religious and racial diversity of South African society is finding expression within South African institutions of higher education. Consequently, ``diversity'', ``diversity issues'' and ``diversification'', have become part of the education debate and policy, and pose new challenges to South African tertiary institutions. Most institutions are attempting to respond to these challenges within the context of a transformation process which impacts on every aspect of academic life from student access and support, outreach programmes, staff recruitment and retention, to academic programme development, research, scholarship and the social and learning environment on campus. This paper looks at how South African higher education institutions have met these challenges. It highlights how the ideas, initiatives or practices around diversity have been appropriated and made part of the mainstream intellectual and academic discourses. It also investigates the social and epistemological conditions of possibility for meaningful scholarship and curriculum practices in addressing the challenges posed by social diversity on campuses. More specific questions in this regard include: What counts as knowledge in diversity scholarship? Who produces and disseminates it? Who accesses it or utilises it? What is its space in the curricula? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]