Published Article / The pass rate of grade 12 learners is shockingly low and this is supposed to be the feeding ground for Higher Educations in South Africa. Alet Rademeyer quotes from a document of Advocate Paul Hoffman, SC, and director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, that the South African School System only delivers one out of 29 functional literate Black matriculants. It is a national crisis and is an indication of gigantic proportions. The aim of the Academic Literacy Programme (ALP) at the CUT is to improve student's academic literacy skills which will ultimately boost the student throughput rate at the CUT. The programme will help students develop their academic language skills whilst creating a positive attitude towards the English language.

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No Brasil, é indispensável que o debate sobre o acesso ao Ensino Superior público considere a questão da equidade. No presente, as modalidades de seleção têm proporcionado claras vantagens aos setores de maior poder aquisitivo, na medida em que o status socioeconômico dos candidatos influencia de maneira determinante as possibilidades de aprovação nos concursos vestibulares. Procuramos, em primeiro lugar, discutir a ideia de justiça a partir dos escritos de John Rawls e outros para, a seguir, mediante pesquisa empírica, estabelecer o atual quadro de desigualdade nos ingressos no nível Superior. O foco principal é a seleção de alunos à Universidade de São Paulo, e para seu estudo, utilizamos, prioritariamente, os questionários respondidos pelos candidatos que prestam a Fuvest. Em seguida, avaliamos as principais alternativas que se colocam para a redução da desigualdade no acesso, verificando seu alcance e suas limitações, analisando se outras formas de seleção são possíveis e devem ser consideradas. Nesse sentido, sugerimos que se busque a diversificação dos modelos de seleção, de modo a ampliar as possibilidades de descoberta de jovens competentes e talentosos que, pela atual fórmula do vestibular, acabam, em grande parte, sendo impedidos de desenvolver plenamente suas capacidades, ficando alienados da disputa por vagas no Ensino Superior público. / In Brazil, it`s quite necessary that the discussion about access to public Higher Education considers the question of equity. Currently, selection methods provide great advantages for high income families, since applicants socioeconomic status strongly induces the probability of sucess on vestibular tests. At first, we try to discuss the idea of justice from the writings of John Rawls and others, and, after that, to estabilish, by empirical research, the situation of inequality on higher level admissions. The text focus mainly on access to Universidade de São Paulo and, for this study, we rather use questionaries made by Fuvest applicants. Then, we evaluate several alternatives to reduce inequality of access, checking their range and limitations, analysing if other forms of selection are possible and must be taken into consideration. Therefore, we recommend the effort for diversification of forms of selection, to enlarge the chances for finding qualified and talented people that, with no regard for their capacities, remain undercover with vestibular tests, and frequently don`t take part on the competition for admission on public Higher Education.

This thesis determines and examines the obstacles to Saudi women's right to work in terms of religious and cultural barriers and limited access to higher education through an analysis of Sharia sources, Saudi domestic law and international human rights treaties pertaining to Saudi women's right to work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It also delineates the provisions for women's right to work in Sharia and Saudi domestic law in the public and private sectors. The thesis also examines the reservations that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has entered into, and some of the international human rights treaties it has ratified, with a particular focus on the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It also examines Saudi Arabia's obligations under International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. In the context of Saudi domestic law, it identifies obstacles that underlie Saudi Arabia's decision not to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); it examines the arguments for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signing up to the ICESCR; and it examines Saudi Arabia's obligations to respect, protect and fulfil women's right to work under CEDAW. The protection of women's right to work under customary international law, by its sources will be explored. This section will look through customary international law elements; whether or not women's right to work is protected. Finally, the thesis provides recommendations for action which can be taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide Saudi women with equal rights to work. It also makes recommendations concerning ratified and pending international human rights treaties which have the capacity to protect Saudi women's right to work.

It is a well-known fact that one way to a better life is through education. Individuals who have a college education will earn significantly higher income that those who only have a high school diploma (McGlynn, 2001). Having a college degree is not only beneficial to an individual, but a community with an educated work force can acquire significant economic and social benefits. If there is no access to higher education, individuals and the community generally cannot advance as well economically. Individuals living in South Texas did not have the opportunity to improve their socio-economic status because of the lack of public institutions of higher education in their region. The South Texas Region is comprised mostly of a Hispanic population. It has the “state’s least educated population, the state’s poorest facilities, and the least capacity to generate local taxes to improve educational opportunities” (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 1993). This study explored predisposing conditions such as racism and examined critical elements such as economic and political power in San Antonio, and the dynamics that empowered a minority group to take the fight of access to a public university to a higher level. According to the legislators interviewed, the move to create a second UT System campus in downtown San Antonio was a community grassroots effort that had a buy-in from members of the Bexar County delegation. The legislators proposed legislation and followed the bill through the approval process in the Texas House and Texas Senate. Before the bill was approved, a lawsuit had been filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American GI Forum against the Texas governor alleging the State had violated the constitutional rights of Mexican Americans by having unequal access to a comprehensive public university. During a time when tuition has skyrocketed and the cost of gasoline has soared, it is amazing how the adage “Build it and they will come” continues to fulfill the dreams of students who may have never had the opportunity to attend a comprehensive institution of higher education had it not been for the UTSA Downtown Campus. / text

Admission to medical school is key to addressing medically underserved communities because over 90% of medical students graduate and become physicians. Yet, members of populations most likely to serve medically underserved communities as physicians remain chronically underrepresented in medical education despite initiatives aimed at increasing their representation among medical students. Meanwhile, traditional determinants of medical school admission fail to fully predict success in medical school, but have a disparate impact on applicants from underrepresented populations. Other determinants are underexplored, especially undergraduate institutional prestige. This study used a quantitative case study approach to examine the relationship between undergraduate institutional prestige, admission to medical school, and potential to serve medically underserved communities via specialty. Using a synthesis of the frameworks of symbolic capital, the iron triangle, and manifest and latent functions as a lens, this study analyzes (1) the relative impact of undergraduate institutional prestige on predicting admission to medical school holding constant the effect of traditional determinants of admission to medical school (i.e., MCAT, GPA), (2) how undergraduate institutional prestige varies by admissions stage, and (3) the relationship between undergraduate institutional prestige and specialty. Overall, findings show that undergraduate institutional prestige is important throughout the medical school admissions process; yet, undergraduate institutional prestige is not related to specialty. Nonetheless, findings imply preferences for applicants from more prestige undergraduate institutions may be contradictory to fulfilling organizational missions concerned with addressing healthcare disparities.

Assessment of prior learning (APL) represents the task to identify and acknowledge an individual’s knowledge and skills regardless of how it has been obtained. In higher education this type of assessment is primarily used for the purpose of awarding access, credits or advanced standing. Because of the impact the results from APL have on the future working career for individuals claiming APL, it is of great importance that these result of APL is valid. The question of interest in this thesis is to what extent APL in higher education is a valid assessment. The thesis is written in the field of educational measurement and comprises four papers and an extensive introduction with summaries of the papers. The most recent views of validity theory were used as the general theoretical framework in all papers, and all papers are concerned with APL in higher education. Study I reviews the research area of APL in higher education from a validity perspective. The general conclusion from the review is that the majority of the studies conducted in this area primarily provide theoretical rationales and theories for a variety of APL practices, and that there is a need for empirically based studies examining and evaluating validity of APL. Studies II, III and IV are empirical studies based on, and exemplified with, an APL scheme related to higher education in Sweden. Study II examines validity issues identified from claimants (individuals or students claiming APL) view of APL. The claimants’ experiences from the specific APL scheme were examined using a questionnaire developed for that purpose. Conclusions drawn from the results are that possible threats to validity may exist in the administration of APL procedures, as well as in consequences of APL. Study III focuses on validity of admission decisions based on APL. The study examines decisions made by different higher education institutions for approximately 600 individuals applying for higher education based on their prior learning. The results show that the existing practice of APL needs improvements in order to obtain validity and trustworthiness in the decisions made in relation to APL. Finally, Study IV focuses on reliability in APL related to higher education. The study provides data of inter- and intra-rater reliability among judges in the specific APL scheme. The results show a lack of especially inter-rater reliability, and a conclusion is that reliability in this type of assessment should be further investigated. The general conclusion from this thesis is that there is a need to take validity issues in APL seriously, and that APL in higher education may not be as valid as it could be.

O objetivo desse trabalho de pesquisa foi realizar uma análise sobre o impacto institucional na política de acesso à UERJ, a partir da implementação da Lei n. 3542/2000, que destina 50% das vagas para alunos oriundos da rede pública de ensino e da Lei n. 3708/2001, que prevê 40% das vagas para pretos e pardos, com ênfase maior para afro-descendentes. Por meio dela, tive a intenção de contribuir com o debate sobre a agenda de ações afirmativas para a inclusão da população negra na universidade pública brasileira. De certa maneira, as políticas de ação afirmativa (AA) vieram problematizar o conceito de igualdade de direito, edificado a partir de experiências revolucionárias como nos EUA, França, Inglaterra, Índia, entre outros países. Essas políticas foram concebidas com a intenção de não privilegiar determinados grupos, mas assegurar para todos o mesmo tratamento perante a lei. O espaço da universidade escolhido para desenvolver a pesquisa foi o Conselho Superior de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (Csepe) e o Conselho Universitário (Consun), duas instâncias fundamentais para a gestão da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, à medida que definem e deliberam sobre as políticas a serem implementadas pela Universidade. Nesses Conselhos, pude ler e analisar Atas das sessões do Csepe e do Consun realizadas no período de 2000 a 2003, assim como pautas das reuniões de ambos os Conselhos no período de 1990 a 2003. Por meio dessa leitura e análise, pude identificar singularidades do processo de gestão universitária, refletindo sobre o quanto os caminhos trilhados podem contribuir para a construção de alternativas de democratização do ensino superior público no país e como instrumento de combate ao racismo / The goal of this work was to analyze the institutional impact of the Laws of reservation of admission places at UERJ, since the implementation of the Law 3542/2000, which reserves 50% of the admission places for students coming from the system of public education and the Law 3.708/2001 which reserves 40% of the admission places for mixed race and black students, with a bigger emphasis for afro-Brazilians. In this way, to contribute to the debate about affirmative action for the inclusion of the black population to the Brazilian public university. In a way affirmative action policies come to problematize the concept of equity of rights, built on the revolutionary experiences of the USA, France, England and India among others. Those policies were conceived with the intention of not giving special privileges to any particular group, but to secure equal legal treatment to all. The areas of the university selected for this study are the Research Council and Extension and the Higher University Council, two of the most important offices for the management of the UERJ. These two offices define and debate the polices to be implemented by the university. To conduct the analysis this project has reviewed the minutes of both offices from 1990 to 2003. This project attempts to identify the particularities of this process around affirmative action in UERJ, reflecting to the extent that the paths taken could contribute to the construction of democratizing alternatives in the public higher education sector as well as a tool to combat racism

O objetivo desse trabalho de pesquisa foi realizar uma análise sobre o impacto institucional na política de acesso à UERJ, a partir da implementação da Lei n. 3542/2000, que destina 50% das vagas para alunos oriundos da rede pública de ensino e da Lei n. 3708/2001, que prevê 40% das vagas para pretos e pardos, com ênfase maior para afro-descendentes. Por meio dela, tive a intenção de contribuir com o debate sobre a agenda de ações afirmativas para a inclusão da população negra na universidade pública brasileira. De certa maneira, as políticas de ação afirmativa (AA) vieram problematizar o conceito de igualdade de direito, edificado a partir de experiências revolucionárias como nos EUA, França, Inglaterra, Índia, entre outros países. Essas políticas foram concebidas com a intenção de não privilegiar determinados grupos, mas assegurar para todos o mesmo tratamento perante a lei. O espaço da universidade escolhido para desenvolver a pesquisa foi o Conselho Superior de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (Csepe) e o Conselho Universitário (Consun), duas instâncias fundamentais para a gestão da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, à medida que definem e deliberam sobre as políticas a serem implementadas pela Universidade. Nesses Conselhos, pude ler e analisar Atas das sessões do Csepe e do Consun realizadas no período de 2000 a 2003, assim como pautas das reuniões de ambos os Conselhos no período de 1990 a 2003. Por meio dessa leitura e análise, pude identificar singularidades do processo de gestão universitária, refletindo sobre o quanto os caminhos trilhados podem contribuir para a construção de alternativas de democratização do ensino superior público no país e como instrumento de combate ao racismo. / The goal of this work was to analyze the institutional impact of the Laws of reservation of admission places at UERJ, since the implementation of the Law 3542/2000, which reserves 50% of the admission places for students coming from the system of public education and the Law 3.708/2001 which reserves 40% of the admission places for mixed race and black students, with a bigger emphasis for afro-Brazilians. In this way, to contribute to the debate about affirmative action for the inclusion of the black population to the Brazilian public university. In a way affirmative action policies come to problematize the concept of equity of rights, built on the revolutionary experiences of the USA, France, England and India among others. Those policies were conceived with the intention of not giving special privileges to any particular group, but to secure equal legal treatment to all. The areas of the university selected for this study are the Research Council and Extension and the Higher University Council, two of the most important offices for the management of the UERJ. These two offices define and debate the polices to be implemented by the university. To conduct the analysis this project has reviewed the minutes of both offices from 1990 to 2003. This project attempts to identify the particularities of this process around affirmative action in UERJ, reflecting to the extent that the paths taken could contribute to the construction of democratizing alternatives in the public higher education sector as well as a tool to combat racism.

O objetivo desse trabalho de pesquisa foi realizar uma análise sobre o impacto institucional na política de acesso à UERJ, a partir da implementação da Lei n. 3542/2000, que destina 50% das vagas para alunos oriundos da rede pública de ensino e da Lei n. 3708/2001, que prevê 40% das vagas para pretos e pardos, com ênfase maior para afro-descendentes. Por meio dela, tive a intenção de contribuir com o debate sobre a agenda de ações afirmativas para a inclusão da população negra na universidade pública brasileira. De certa maneira, as políticas de ação afirmativa (AA) vieram problematizar o conceito de igualdade de direito, edificado a partir de experiências revolucionárias como nos EUA, França, Inglaterra, Índia, entre outros países. Essas políticas foram concebidas com a intenção de não privilegiar determinados grupos, mas assegurar para todos o mesmo tratamento perante a lei. O espaço da universidade escolhido para desenvolver a pesquisa foi o Conselho Superior de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (Csepe) e o Conselho Universitário (Consun), duas instâncias fundamentais para a gestão da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, à medida que definem e deliberam sobre as políticas a serem implementadas pela Universidade. Nesses Conselhos, pude ler e analisar Atas das sessões do Csepe e do Consun realizadas no período de 2000 a 2003, assim como pautas das reuniões de ambos os Conselhos no período de 1990 a 2003. Por meio dessa leitura e análise, pude identificar singularidades do processo de gestão universitária, refletindo sobre o quanto os caminhos trilhados podem contribuir para a construção de alternativas de democratização do ensino superior público no país e como instrumento de combate ao racismo / The goal of this work was to analyze the institutional impact of the Laws of reservation of admission places at UERJ, since the implementation of the Law 3542/2000, which reserves 50% of the admission places for students coming from the system of public education and the Law 3.708/2001 which reserves 40% of the admission places for mixed race and black students, with a bigger emphasis for afro-Brazilians. In this way, to contribute to the debate about affirmative action for the inclusion of the black population to the Brazilian public university. In a way affirmative action policies come to problematize the concept of equity of rights, built on the revolutionary experiences of the USA, France, England and India among others. Those policies were conceived with the intention of not giving special privileges to any particular group, but to secure equal legal treatment to all. The areas of the university selected for this study are the Research Council and Extension and the Higher University Council, two of the most important offices for the management of the UERJ. These two offices define and debate the polices to be implemented by the university. To conduct the analysis this project has reviewed the minutes of both offices from 1990 to 2003. This project attempts to identify the particularities of this process around affirmative action in UERJ, reflecting to the extent that the paths taken could contribute to the construction of democratizing alternatives in the public higher education sector as well as a tool to combat racism