Scholarships
These days, there are so many scholarships around for
just about anything. I stumbled across a few today that got me thinking as to
why particular scholarships exist for particular cultures. A foot in the door
to help them out? Yes, but I do feel as if some scholarships just aren’t necessary,
especially when singling out a race.
Like most scholarships, Maori scholarships are provided by
iwi.
I understand that there are different kinds of grades that “can
be achieved between European and Maori in which you're allowed to study”.
There is plenty of animosity towards the scholarships, and we
hear comments all the time saying things like ‘well the white race don’t get
particular scholarships’, which I can understand, but then again, is there
really any harm in helping a particular race out for education when this is one
of the most important things in life?
A scholarship purely exists to help in higher education.
“A large number of scholarships have requirements you have to
meet anyway so in a lot of ways every scholarship is biased”. I can’t say that completely
agree with this statement because it does seem that sometimes, a lot of
scholarships that single out a particular race don’t need to exist. But as I said
before, is there really any harm in helping someone out financially?
https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1dp0mj/is_there_any_racism_towards_people_with_m%C4%81ori/
I agree with you. I personally think just because i'm indian and there is not many if any extra help for me (scholarships, specific study help) i'm meant to be smart and able to do well without encouragement or positive reinforcement which scholarships do. I think scholarships can be turned around to be a form of positive discrimination as the scholarships single out race's and imply certain stereotypes to each race e.g money issues and lack in motivation both within themselves and from friends and family. This could be part of a cycle in which those stereotypes are reinforced. This video is from a guy at my school talking about how stereotypes actually influence the actions of people and how they become basically trapped in it-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7kbakbqKr0
An answer to your question of why particular scholarships exist for particular ethnicities is founded in the notion of equity. Equity describes an intention to be fair and impartial, which could on surface value be understood to support your argument that "some scholarships just aren’t necessary, especially when singling out a race." However, in our world, equality is still an incomplete ideal and equity acknowledges this. Reality is we live in a society stratified and disadvantaged according to different markers- one of which is perceived 'race'. If we look at the ethnic make up of UOA and consider your example of scholarships specific to individuals of Maori descent, we see that in 2014 there were 2,932 Maori students enrolled out of a total of 41,953 students. That's 6.98% of the student body. When we compare this against the 2013 Census in which 15% percent of the population identified with Maori ethnicity we're left with a considerable disparity. Higher education is known to improve your chances at getting better jobs, earning more and achieving more 'success'. So a disadvantage in numbers or hopes of going to Uni is just one part of a wider structure that continues to marginalise Maori people and limit their potential. In the last 15 years the number of Maori students at UOA is increasing- this is in part due to the availability of scholarships and programmes such as Tuakana that act as a support and tell Maori and Pacifica students that there is a place for them in an institution founded on western principles. When people of European descent doubt the need of these 'advantages' it is because they do not understand what it is to be systematically and continuously marginalised. Less Maori Scholarships wouldn't mean more for other students, but what it does mean is that we're taking steps towards bridging the gaps in our society that divide peoples 'life chances' according to arbitrary categorisations they were born into.
ReplyDeleteVery well said, thanks Vik :)
ReplyDeleteEllie, like with your previous post on the Tuakana program, I think that you are taking a very 'colorblind' approach to looking at these programs. I think it is easy for people of European decent to protest being singled out by race for scholarships when we are not routinely singled out and discriminated for the colour of our skin on a daily basis.
Like Vik elaborates on above getting access to higher education isn't just a financial leg up, its important to counterbalancing a lot of the systematic discrimination against Maori people in this country.
Can I ask what about these scholarships for Maori people you don't find necessary? Or why 'scholarships that single out race' don't need to exist? I just found those points a bit unclear :)
In response to your comment that said ‘well the white race don’t get particular scholarships’ to which you said you understood, I assume from this you mean you agree with and believe that there should be ‘white scholarships’??
ReplyDeleteRace is used to define the biological characteristics of people such as skin colour, hair colour and eye colour. The scholarships you are talking about, like Maori scholarships given out by Iwi, are ethnically related, not race related. There is no such award as a ‘black’ scholarship in New Zealand (that I am aware of at least), therefore why should there be a ‘white’ scholarship for ‘white’ people? Biological features should not determine who is eligible for what awards.
On another note, having scholarships solely for Maori and people of Maori decent, I believe is totally reasonable because these types of scholarships were introduced with the aim of increasing Maori achievement to the point where Maori and NZ European educational achievement is equal in NZ. Statistics show there is still extreme differences between Maori and NZ European performances and these scholarships are viewed as a way to help this situation.
Going slightly off track here…but NZ Europeans have had the upper hand, for want of a better way to say it, for the majority of New Zealand’s history, ever since the colonisation period, and Maori have been extremely disadvantaged because of this; these scholarships are just one small way to give Maori an advantage to help even the playing field, that’s what I believe anyway…
Interesting argument! :)