Equality vs. Equity: Nietzsche's Argument and Business Policies

This essay examines the concepts of equality and equity, contrasting their meanings and implications within a business context. It explores Friedrich Nietzsche's arguments, particularly his critique of equality and preference for equity, arguing that equality often favors the privileged and can lead to injustice. The essay then applies these ideas to real-world business scenarios, highlighting gender bias, racial discrimination, and performance-based inequalities in the workplace. It uses examples of company lawsuits and statistics to illustrate the disparities faced by women and minorities. The author concludes that equity, which focuses on providing individuals with the resources they need to succeed, is a more just approach than equality, especially in addressing systemic inequalities within organizations. The essay underscores the importance of equity in creating a fair and inclusive business environment, advocating for policies that address the unique needs of different groups.

Running head: EQUALITY OR EQUITY
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
Equality is a concept that ensures that all individuals have equal rights and
opportunities. It is a correspondence between different persons and objects that are similar in
qualities; however, differ in features (Oppenheim 2018). There are several categories of
equality, such as- racial and gender equality, political and social equality, equality before law
and others (Le Grand 2018). However, equality is not always what one wants. Equality aims
to ensure fairness, but it works only when all the individuals begin from the same place and
require the same assistance; it keeps everyone at the same level (Bernstein et al 2016).
Whereas, equity talks about justice and focuses on the requirement of the individual. The
essay aims to elaborate on Nietzsche’s argument that equality only favours the equals and
inequality further oppresses the unequal. It also links the statement to the policies applied by
the business organisations.
According to the theory of equality, people should be given equal opportunities to
develop. Equality is of two types- numerical equality is when people are treated equally, are
given equal protection from law and get the same amount of good. On the other hand,
proportional equality is when people are treated in equal proportion if they have and need.
According to the doctrine of equality, people who need more are given more and those who
need less are granted less. By this, the society maintains equality between all. However, there
are times when society feels that certain things should not be equal. What Nietzsche argues is
that equality cannot be maintained at all times. For example, at the time of giving job one
without the qualification cannot be considered at the same level as someone with having
those qualifications. If equality is applied in this kind of situation, then it will be an injustice
for the person who deserves the job (Jonas 2016). According to Nietzsche, the difference
should be made between what should be treated equitably and what should be treated equally.
He believes the doctrine of equality to be absurd. Nietzsche does not oppose equality; he is

2
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
against it when equality is put forward as a fundamental value. Nietzsche believes in “inter-
pares” kind of equality rather than the democratic concept of equality. Affirmative action
tries to provide equal opportunities to minority groups within society. It encourages equality
of socially deprived people. However, it is biased as not everyone falls under the category of
minority groups. These policies further reinforce separation among groups. It serves to give
advantage to unqualified people. This is where Nietzsche’s argument can be brought. He does
not favour the concept of equality as he believes that the latter is the root cause of inequality.
According to him, equality only supports those who are at the top of the hierarchy and
oppresses the already oppressed people. This can be best explained when the statement
“equality for equals and inequality for unequals” is linked with business corporations.
Nietzsche suggests equity rather than equality. He believes that oppressed people should be
given more opportunities and equal rights rather than the ones who are already privileged.
For instance, the first thing that a woman has to face in her workplace is gender bias
(Heilman and Caleo 2018). It can be either unconscious or an implicit one. Some
organisations are biased towards men while paying the latter for their performance.
Sometimes women perform equally well as the men but still, they are not favoured. Job
descriptions too contain unconscious gender bias which has gendered associations. Men are
given jobs even when they meet 60% of the qualification while women have to meet the full
100% qualification criteria (Angelov, Johansson and Lindahl 2016). While recruiting women
are often asked about marriage and parental plans based on which they are given job or
discriminated. There is also a considerable pay gap between men and women in the
workplace. The pay gap is decided to keep the qualification, skills, working hours and
experience in mind (Bishu and Alkadry 2017). These kinds of disparities relating to
opportunities restrict women to excel in their career. Here is a list of companies that were
sued for discriminating women in their workplace. A female executive sued Computer

3
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
Science Corporation. The latter complained about the company after observing the practice of
gender bias and sexual harassment in her workplace. When she refused to take the complaint
back, she was fired from her job in 2012. Between 2010-2016 there were 108 complaints
regarding sexual harassment and 119 cases of gender discrimination in Microsoft. Often men
are preferred over women because of their physical ability and strength. Women are paid
only 79 cents, while men make a dollar at the same time (Hegewisch and DuMonthier
2016According to data conducted by Census Bureau in the US, the average pay gap in the
country is around 19.5%. Though the equal pay act has been introduced, it does not state that
the jobs of men and women should be the same but that it should be partially similar. Though
the sexual harassment act was passed to prohibit the exploitation of women in the workplace,
it has not helped in resolving the situation of women (Williams 2018). More than 60% of
women working in the tech industry has experienced sexual harassment (Chalabi 2016). This
further makes Nietzsche’s statement ‘equality is poisonous’ true. Though society has given
women a chance to become equal and enter the workplace, it has proved to be dangerous for
them. On the one hand, they are given equality and on the other, they are exploited by
members of the organisation. Thus, the doctrine of equality become poisonous.
Another inequality that exists in the workplace is related to performance and rewards.
Women are purposely assigned low inferior accounts based on which they are given awards.
Not only women but even men sometimes are not appreciated for their excellent work. This
generally happens due to racial discrimination. According to Nietzsche, the doctrine of
equality might favour everyone with equal opportunities but not with equal means. This is
evident when Blacks in the US have to face exploitation and humiliation in their workplace
due to their skin colour. They neither get admission in good schools nor are they recognised
in their place of work. Thus, it becomes a significant concern for them (Assari and Moghani
Lankarani 2018). Blacks were oppressed even in the past and they are still not treated

4
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
equally. Although many acts are formulated to protect the rights and freedom of the blacks,
they are still not given equal opportunities like the Whites to walk up the ladder. The blacks
who have good education goes through lack of motivation which makes it harder for them to
move ahead. They are not rewarded as their white colleagues. On the contrary to the doctrine
of equality glass ceiling biases at the workplace have risen. The concept of the glass ceiling
prevents women and other minorities from achieving the professional success that they
deserve (Glass and Cook 2016). Workers are often denied adequate compensation (Schneider
2016). They being unequal in the organisation are mistreated. Nietzsche is against equality
because according to him, equality is ontologically hierarchal. This kind of hierarchy is
maintained in a business organisation. The complaints of workers are often ignored as
communication with the senior managers are less. This is the reason why the labour union
was created for the benefit of the workers. They communicate the messages of the employer
to the employees and carry the grievances of the latter to the former (Taylor 2018). However,
labour unions have now become corrupted and often support the organisation for their
welfare. Employees who do not deserve to be promoted are given promotion and incentives
because of their experience and seniority. People who earn a promotion, the ones who work
hard are neither recognised nor promoted. There are many inequalities for unequal in the
business organisation. Again, Nietzsche’s statement that unequal people are not treated
equally becomes true. On the other hand, as Nietzsche proposed that equality only favours the
privileged class becomes correct. Undeserving employees are given credit for their work. As
Nietzsche suggests, equality becomes just a myth in business organisations. Therefore,
Nietzsche’s argues that equality does not always solve the problem in the workplace. Rather
equity should be maintained, where the less fortunate people are given resources to move
ahead.

5
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
Equity, on the other hand, is denoted by fairness, justice and morality. Equity is to
give adequate means to all for them to become successful. Justice and fairness between
gender do not mean that they should become the same. Rather both men and women should
be equal opportunities to be successful. Understanding differences is essential. Equity means
offering different levels of support that depends on the need people to achieve justice. An
example of equity is to formulate policies regarding women in the workplace. Women often
have problems finding jobs after childbirth. Equity can be applied here when these women
are given job security or paid maternity leaves (Ryan 2016). Equity is all about what one
needs according to the quantity. It also lessens the gap between different groups. People are
treated fairly but at the same time differently depending on their needs. Nietzsche wants a
society that believes in equity which treats everyone in the same manner.
To conclude, it must be noted that not equality but equity should be maintained at all
levels. Equality often leads to bias; it does not give justice to the unequal. Equity, on the other
hand, should be promoted as it provides legitimacy to everyone. Nietzsche argues that
equality is not equal distribution of wealth, property and opportunities; rather, the equity
should be followed instead to allow the oppressed people to rise in society as well as a
business organisation. Equality favours the already equipped ones. He understands that
equality will not solve the present deprivation of people in every sphere of life. Equity is the
only way to solve the problem of equality and inequality. What he wants is the levelling-
down of the ‘higher-types’ that would help the people in the margin to come up.

6
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
References
Angelov, N., Johansson, P. and Lindahl, E., 2016. Parenthood and the gender gap in
pay. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(3), pp.545-579.
Assari, S. and Moghani Lankarani, M., 2018. Workplace racial composition explains high
perceived discrimination of high socioeconomic status African American men. Brain
sciences, 8(8), p.139.
Bernstein, S., Lerner, J., Sorensen, M. and Strömberg, P., 2016. Private equity and industry
performance. Management Science, 63(4), pp.1198-1213.
Bishu, S.G. and Alkadry, M.G., 2017. A systematic review of the gender pay gap and factors
that predict it. Administration & Society, 49(1), pp.65-104.
Chalabi, M. (2016). Sexual harassment at work: more than half of claims in US result in no
charge. The Guardian.
Glass, C. and Cook, A., 2016. Leading at the top: Understanding women's challenges above
the glass ceiling. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), pp.51-63.
Hegewisch, A. and DuMonthier, A., 2016. The Gender Wage Gap: 2015: Annual Earnings
Differences by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity. Fact Sheet, IWPR C, 446.
Heilman, M.E. and Caleo, S., 2018. Gender discrimination in the workplace.
Jonas, M., 2016. ADVANCING EQUALITY AND INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE: THE
CASE OF NIETZSCHE'S" SCHOPENHAUER AS EDUCATOR". History of Philosophy
Quarterly, 33(2), pp.173-192.
Le Grand, J., 2018. The strategy of equality: redistribution and the social services.
Routledge.

7
EQUALITY OR EQUITY
Oppenheim, F.E., 2018. Egalitarianism as a descriptive concept. In The Notion of
Equality (pp. 27-36). Routledge.
Ryan, J.C., 2016. Old knowledge for new impacts: Equity theory and workforce
nationalization. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), pp.1587-1592.
Taylor, A., 2018. The trade unions and the Labour Party. Routledge.
Williams, C.L., 2018. Sexual harassment in organizations: A critique of current research and
policy. In Sexual Harassment and Sexual Consent (pp. 20-43). Routledge.