Author: Toronto District School Board
May 2023, Updated May 2024
Meritocratic ideologies support dual narratives within societies. They support the equality of all people and, most importantly, their right to achieve success through effort (e.g., Batruch et al., 2019). At the same time, the beliefs within meritocratic ideologies can help to justify existing stratification or differences of economic, health, and educational outcomes based on individual behaviour or performance (Au, 2016).
This literature review looks at the introduction of meritocracy, how meritocratic ideals have been adapted in public education, and how diverse learning opportunities aimed at equity play out in the education system.
References:
Au, W. (2016). Meritocracy 2.0: High-stakes, standardized testing as a racial project of neoliberal multiculturalism. Educational Policy, 30(1), 39-62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815614916
Batruch, A., Autin, F., & Butera, F. (2019). The paradoxical role of meritocratic selection in the perpetuation of social inequalities at school. In: Jetten, J., Peters, K. (eds). The Social Psychology of Inequality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28856-3_8