Diversity redesign

Richard Budd argues that universities cannot be inclusive because they’re designed not to be

At least since the post-war period, the idea that universities should be melting pots, where different kinds of people mix and learn from each other, has held sway. This, alongside national economic interests, is why higher education has expanded almost continuously since then.

Higher education is seen as both a private and social good. On average graduates live longer, earn more, spend more, pay more tax, receive fewer benefits, and can afford to volunteer more and be politically critical and active. This is partly due to what they learn and how they learn it, but also to meeting—in the classroom or elsewhere in their time as students—people from different walks of life.