The Meritocracy Myth

Running head: MERITOCRACY MYTH 1
The Meritocracy Myth
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MERITOCRACY MYTH 2
Introduction
Meritocracy myth was developed by Mc Namee and Miller who argued that there is no
society with meritocracy. Meritocracy is an ideology whereby society wellbeing or development
of living standards in society depends on merit alone. In such a society with meritocracy access
to wealth and prestige is a reward of hard work, abilities, and talents. Though Mc Namee and
Miller argued that there is no society with meritocracy due to non-merit factors. People go as far
as their ability and talents take them, such merit factors are through hard work and positive
attitude. Nonmerit factors have nothing to do with hard work, ability, talent or even positive
attitude (Scully, 2015).
Nonmerit factors which are a barrier to individual mobility
Non-merit factors have little or nothing to do with a person’s credentials. These factors are as
explained below;
Inheritance factor
Most parents invest in their children. Hence children inherit a starting point from their
parents. Parents’ capacities do differ. Thus the poor have no advantage over the rich hence they
depend on merit alone in order to improve. The rich pass non-merit advantages like better living
standards, health, transfer of wealth and materials to their children. Therefore this system
becomes inheritance based and not merit.
Education factor
In case you want to get to the top, education is both a merit and a non-merit since grades
are earned by an individual and not inherited. However, education can be a non-merit factor in

MERITOCRACY MYTH 3
the sense that access to good and quality education depends on the social class (Elford, 2016).
There is unequal funding of public schools compared to private wealth exclusive schools. In
early childhood development, privileged kids are always ahead compared to the non-privileged
in skills and cognitive abilities.
Social capital factor
Access to social capital depends on who you know. Having friends and relatives in high
positions is a good network for improvement as there is easy access to resources and information
(Ma, Tang & Yan, 2015).
Luck factor
It is also a non-merit factor that defines who gets to the top and who does not. Securing a
job that matches education skills, training and pays well is not an easy thing and therefore falls
on luck (Frank, 2016).
Discrimination factor
This is the antithesis of merit hence non-merit. Sex discrimination and race are among the top
forms of discrimination while others are religion, age, and sexual identity or preferential
treatment for the attractive. All these have a devastating effect on the starting point of individuals
for generations. (Yi & Museus, 2015).
Cultural capital factor
This is the knowledge and way of life of some people which includes norms, values,
beliefs and how individuals in a community conduct themselves. This uniquely identifies and