I’ve been a life-long believer in meritocracy. Probably like most people reading this, I fully believed that being smart and working hard would lead to the achievement of most goals. This belief has been a real guidepost and motivator in all I’ve done and helped me make sense of the world.
I had, however, failed to acknowledge a crucial assumption in this belief: you can only work hard and be smart if you have the right start in life, and furthermore, no amount of working hard will get you anywhere if the right set of opportunities are not available to you. As Amartya Sen said:
“poverty is not just a lack of money, it is not having the capability to realise one’s full potential as a human being.”
The penny dropped during Dr Barford’s lecture on the recent MSt residential week. She taught us how it is impossible to have a true meritocracy in modern society because of the compounding effects over generations. As an example, if you start off 10 couples in similar jobs, in similar homes and let meritocracy take its course, you will likely end up with a range of outcomes — some couples will do better or worse than others. The children of the couples that do well, will benefit from the greater opportunities afforded to them and vice versa for the children of the couples that fare less well. This is magnified over generations, leading to the vast social inequalities we see today.
This realisation has really stayed with me, particularly as academic research shows that reducing inequality in the best way to improve quality of life for all. So, I set about thinking how I could improve social inequality where I live: a normal neighbourhood in south-east London where more affluent Victorian terraced homes sit next to council blocks.
Since then, inspired by an advert in a local newsletter, my partner and I have signed up with a youth charity to be mentors for troubled teenagers in the area. After four weeks of practical training, everything we’ve learnt so far confirms the theory I learnt about last month. Exclusion is a real problem, particularly in schools, and relational poverty is rife. We now wait to be matched with a suitable young person and start our 6 to 9 month journey with them. Let’s hope my DBS check comes through soon..!
CLARIFICATION EDIT:
I think my attempt at an attention-grabbing title detracted a little from my message. To be clear: I absolutely agree that we *need* meritocracy on a personal level for growth and motivation, and on an societal level to recognise and promote the right sorts of skills in people.
I am more questioning meritocracy’s effectiveness. I don’t believe anymore that poor but ‘hard-working families’ can pull themselves out of poverty just by sheer effort. So much of it comes down to the opportunities you have from a young age (e.g. to go to uni), and the biases you have to fight against your whole life (e.g. for promotions), whether that’s based on gender, race, sexual orientation.
