Critically analyses key debates about ‘merit’, ‘quotas’, ‘targets’

In Australian Federal politics, there is much discussion about issues of ‘merit’, ‘quotas’, ‘targets’ and so forth regarding the number of women in parliament and different approaches the Australian Labour Party and the Liberal-National Party Coalition parties have taken over the past 20 years to ensure gender equality.  These issues also apply to people with disability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexuality, and so forth.

In India, the reservation system uses quotas in education and jobs to help those who are lower on the economic scale.  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-election-caste/india-sets-jobs-quota-for-less-well-off-critics-see-pre-vote-ploy-idUSKCN1P31C0

The essential arguments both for and against these types of arguments are similar.

Write a 1,500 word essay that critically analyses key debates about ‘merit’, ‘quotas’, ‘targets’, with a particular focus on the underlying assumptions of each concept.  Students should consider how the issues might change over time, in different cultural or industry contexts, etc. Students must include scholarly references in addition to other sources e.g.: articles in the public media, and other materials provided by the lecturer.