| Abstract: | This analysis explores the implications of affirmative action, in its broadest sense, in the educational sphere of a unique multicultural and multiracial society ‐‐ South Africa. It looks at more conventional approaches such as positive discrimination and preferential hiring, on the one hand, and at the process of institutional transformation, on the other. Elsewhere, discussions of affirmative action commonly dwell on institutional access and on admission. Less qualified people, distinguishable on the basis of ascribed attributes such as race, are too often perceived as having been placed in positions for which they are unprepared. Examples of affirmative action procedures undertaken in South African tertiary institutions will . be examined. |
