Judgment of Justice of Quotas in the University and Its Relation With the Moral Development

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the fairness of quota judgment and the level of moral competency of students and professors. This work was conducted with 317 college students and 15 professors from a base course for engineering at a Public University. We use a structured questionnaire to collect data, composed of a dilemma of quotas and eight arguments related to justice and eight to injustice of quotas. We still apply the Moral Competence Test (MCT_xt), which considers affective and cognitive aspects of the judgment and gives rise to score - C. The results indicated the low C index of the participants, conflict of interest in the judgment of the fairness of quota and the racial issue as the main disagreement factor. Among non-quota students, the higher the C index, the more they considered quotas like unfairness and among quota students, the lower the C score, the greater the choice for fairness. For judgments based on equity, as in the case of affirmative actions, higher levels of moral development would be necessary. Education has an essential role in developing students’ moral competence and, consequently, in promoting their participation in social, civic and professional life.