Editor’s Note
This article introduces the foundational principle of equal opportunity, which asserts that individuals should compete for societal resources and positions based on merit, not predetermined characteristics like social origin or gender. It is a core concept for understanding fairness in modern societies.
Broadly speaking, the principle of equal opportunity states that all citizens should have the same chance to make the most of their lives. In all those areas and situations of social life where coveted resources, positions, or living conditions are scarce and people therefore compete for them, no one should be at an advantage or disadvantage because of their social origin, gender, skin color, religious affiliation, or other personal characteristics.
This demand is based on a very specific understanding of social justice: inequality between people is considered just if the better-off person gained their advantage in a fair competition – that is, in a competition where all other participants also had a real chance of being among the winners at the outset (hence also referred to as “equality of starting chances”). An improved position achieved in this way would not be arbitrary (like, for example, the privileges of a nobleman in the past who “was lucky enough” to be born into the right estate), but “earned” through effort and achievement and therefore legitimate. This principle is also called the “meritocratic principle” and refers to the Latin word “meritum,” which translates to “merit” or “achievement.” In this sense, equal opportunity is closely linked to another principle of justice: merit-based justice.
All these are considerations in the realm of what ought to be (normative considerations). Whether the coveted resources, positions, and living conditions are actually achieved in a fair competition of achievement among equals is another question, one that can only be clarified empirically.
The idea that everyone should have equal opportunities in education and career, regardless of factors like their social origin, descent, or gender, connects three central cornerstones in the course of life:
The origin from a family: With birth, some conditions are simply predetermined, over which children and adolescents have little or no influence. These include, in addition to gender, origin from a particular social class, and “descent” or ethnic affiliation, also religion and the region in which one grows up. These “socially ascribed” living conditions at birth are distributed more or less unequally in society. According to the norm of the equality of all people, it is considered unjust that the upbringing of children and adolescents is determined by these differences: their education, their opportunities for contact with each other, their leisure activities, their health, well-being, and nutrition, to name just a few.
Education: The education system plays a key role in modern societies, as it is the first and thus probably the most important junction for a person’s future social status. Which professional positions, which income prospects, what level of social security – in short, what standard of living – one can achieve in the course of life depends to a large extent on the level of education. Modern societies have a broadly diversified (“differentiated”) education system with various educational pathways that open up very different opportunities for their graduates for further education and life paths. Therefore, there is also a wide range of inequality in education: Educational qualifications range – with varying lengths of learning time – from the basic vocational qualification (Hauptschule leaving certificate) to a doctorate (“Dr.”).
Professional activity: (Note: The article appears to be truncated here. The translation continues based on the provided text.)
