Same but Different¹

There are three principles which today figure prominently in the mission statements and strategic plans of many universities around the world. Two, normally taken together and promoted by national governments across the OECD and beyond, as well as by international organisations such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, UNESCO and many others, are equity and equality. The third relates to respecting and promoting the diversity of university populations. It is now hard to think of a university anywhere within the European Union, North America or Australasia – and in many countries outside these regions – which would not state a commitment to upholding these principles generally and, for example specifically in the way it recruits and deals with its students, both ‘home’ and ‘international’.