Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02160137
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED260596 AUTHOR: Stewart, Robert A. C.
TITLE: Cognitive, Socio-cultural and Institutional
Explanations for Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement
in Fiji (or Affirmative Action in the South Seas).
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1984
NOTE: 18 p.; Paper presented at the Conference on Thinking
(Cambridge, MA, August 19-23, 1984). Some pages may be
marginally legible.
ABSTRACT: The status of and efforts toward educational
equity in the bi-ethnic community in the independent nation
of Fiji are examined in the context of participation in
higher education, particularly at the University of the
South Pacific. It is noted that at the university, which
serves 11 countries and about 60 cultures, despite an
affirmative action policy, there is lower participation
among indigenous Fijians than among Fiji citizens of Indian
origin. Research on this problem in Fiji is reviewed,
including studies of secondary schools, university student
achievement, and medical school participation. An analysis
of the psychological, sociocultural, and institutional
factors contributing to this situation is outlined, and
relevant research in Fiji showing significant ethnic
differences relating to some of these factors is discussed.
Various affirmative action proposals addressing these three
factor categories are examined. (MSE)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: College-Admission; College-Students;
Comparative-Analysis; Educational-Research; Foreign
Countries; Higher-Education; National-Surveys; Universities-
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Academic-Achievement; *Affirmative-Action;
*Educational-Objectives; *Equal-Education; *Ethnic-Groups;
*School-Surveys
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