Social equity

Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy based on the principle of substantive equality.
Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration.
Social equity within a society is different from social equality based on formal equality of opportunity. Providing hearing aids for the deaf would be considered social equity as it furthers the ability of people to equally partake in society, whereas if they received no aid, they would be treated completely equally to others, but they would not have these opportunities.

Overview

Definitions of social equity differ, but they all emphasize justice and fairness. Equity includes the role of public administrators, who are tasked with ensuring that social services are distributed fairly. This means considering historical and current inequalities among groups, as fairness is influenced by this social and historical context.

In public administration

Attention to social equity in the field of public administration in the United States arose during the 1960s, amid growing national awareness of civil rights and racial inequality.
The National Academy of Public Administration defines social equity as “The fair, just and equitable management of all institutions serving the public directly or by contract; the fair, just and equitable distribution of public services and implementation of public policy; and the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity in the formation of public policy.”
In 1968, H. George Frederickson articulated "a theory of social equity" and put it forward as the 'third pillar' of public administration. Frederickson was concerned that those in public administration were making the mistake of assuming that citizen A is the same as citizen B, ignoring social and economic conditions. His goal was for social equity to take on the same "status as economy and efficiency as values or principles to which public administration should adhere."
Community policing is one approach towards social equity in policing.

Sex, gender and sexuality

Recent administration from former U.S. President Barack Obama has shed light on the subject of social equity for members of the LGBTQ community. The Obama administration appointed more than 170 openly LGBTQ professionals to work full-time within the executive branch and directed the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct “the first ever national study to determine the level of discrimination experienced by LGBTQ community in housing.”

Race

Within the realm of public administration, racial equality is an important factor. It deals with the idea of “biological equality” of all human races and “social equality for people of different races”. According to Jeffrey B. Ferguson his article “Freedom, Equality, Race,” the people of the United States believe that racial equality will prevail.

Religion

Social equity regarding religion has legal protections in some jurisdictions. In the US, individuals, regardless of religious affiliation or practice are afforded. According to 42 U.S.C. sect. 2000e "Religion is defined as all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to responsibly accommodate to an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without unique hardship to the conduct of the employer's business." This law was enacted to protect employees who are employed by bosses of another religion and allow them to observe their particular religious practices and celebrations.

Military

Military and conscription generally violate social equity, despite increasing social inclusion. Women in Norway did not reach gender equity for conscription with women being only 33% of all conscripted as of 2020. The United States military casualties of war and mental health outcomes show racial and gender equity disparities, in the period 1980-2022 African Americans were over-represented and women were underrepresented in casualties.