Meritocracy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingEntry for encyclopedia/dictionary

Abstract

Meritocracy is a normative principle directing the distribution of opportunities and benefits based on ability, talent, or effort. It is a central issue in education, which seems centrally concerned with identifying, developing, and rewarding merit. But many have come to doubt the reality of meritocracy, apart from its worth as an ideal; and in a society in which opportunities and benefits (including educational opportunities and benefits) are in fact not distributed based on merit, the belief in meritocracy functions as a kind of legitimating myth. The essay concludes that meritocracy is an ambivalent principle, producing some things that we want and many things that we do not want.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationOxford Research Encyclopedia of Education
PublisherOxford University Press
ISBN (Electronic)9780190264093
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 28 2021

Keywords

  • meritocracy
  • ideology
  • equal opportunity
  • education
  • distributive justice

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