Social Equity in Public Administration: Past, Present, and the Future

Abstract

By 2018, the United States was (again) faced with a number of turbulent and divisive issues. In response, the Minnowbrook at 50 conference identified several critical areas of emphasis to advance social equity in research, teaching, and the practice of public administration. In this essay, we highlight these renewed efforts to describe its progress during the past five years (e.g., 2018–2023), as well as review the conceptual development of social equity in public administration prior to the Minnowbrook at 50 conference (e.g., pre-2018). We conclude with a re-examination of the future of social equity in public administration by upholding past principles, while encouraging new practices, pedagogy, and scholarship within the social equity domain (e.g., post-2023).