Social Analysis: Meritocratic Aspects of Australian Education System

This essay undertakes a comprehensive social analysis of the Australian education system, scrutinizing its meritocratic aspects and highlighting the presence of non-merit factors that impact student success. Drawing upon the work of McNamee and Miller, the essay investigates how factors beyond individual merit, such as socio-economic status, gender, and race, create barriers to educational opportunities and perpetuate inequalities. It examines the historical context, including the treatment of indigenous populations, and the challenges faced by students from diverse backgrounds. The analysis delves into issues like funding disparities, gender biases, and the impact of racism, exploring how these factors undermine the principles of meritocracy. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for equitable access to education and advocating for policies that promote fairness and equal opportunities for all students in Australia, regardless of their background. The essay also points out the non-merit factors like inheritance and social positions that can impact the education system.

Running head: SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Social Analysis
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to make an assessment of the education system of Australia
and present the system as the one where the meritocratic aspects will be discussed. The work of
McNamee and Miller regarding The Meritocratic Myth has been a very useful text to cover up
this context (McNamee & Miller, 2009). It must be mentioned in this context that there are
several non-merit factors that could be discussed as the barriers to the success of the individual
students within the society. The education system in the country must stay unbiased and the
merits of the students must not be ignored. The text will have to be assessed properly so that the
real condition of the country regarding education could be understood.
Assessment of the Australian education system
The Australian education system has been one of the most complicated education systems
in all over the world. This education system covers native Australians and the indigenous
aboriginal Australian people as well (McNamee & Miller, 2009). On the contrary of the
Australian education system, the example of the American Dream can be given that focuses on
the merits of the individuals that take them to the ultimate stage they want to go. The students
will have to implement their merits and get ahead of their rival students in the class. Thus they
can get their desired place indeed. Some of the things that invokes the merits of the students in
the country are intention to work hard, the innate abilities of the students that will help them to
stay ahead of their competitors (Vass, 2012). The students must possess the right kind of attitude
and moral integrity. This will be highly beneficial for them to progress in their professional
careers as well.

2SOCIAL ANALYSIS
However, the meritocracy has not been properly observed in the education system of
Australia. In fact, the book The Meritocratic Myth has suggested a big gap between the thinking
of the people about the functioning of the system and the actual functioning style of the system.
The thinking works in the way as the wealth and income is distributed among the individuals
according to the merits (Vass, 2012). The system should have worked as per the meritorious
students would be able to get the opportunities in the educational institutions despite their poor
economic levels. The wealth distribution system of Australia is quite unequal. The main problem
lies in the fact that the funding and resources are not properly distributed among the poor
students and this is why they do not get the proper opportunities in the schools and colleges.. It
has been seen that some of the students are quite good and talented but their merits are ignored
only because of their financial positions (Ford, 2013).
As per the research it has been found that The Better Schools Plan has made much
discrimination against the Catholic school students and independent students as well. However,
the girl education is still facing some gender inequality problems. However, the aspect of haed
working is often been seen as one of the most significant things for the overall improvement of
the students and it reflects the merits of the students as well (Rigney, 2017). As per the common
notion, the girls are often seen to be the hard working students and this is why they are very
much meritorious as well. The application of the talents is also very much necessary as well. It
has been seen that the boys are given the more privilege in the education than the girls.
According to the researchers, the boys have outperformed the girls in the numeracy skills.
However, this lagging behind of the girls has impacted negatively on the social mobility (Tyler,
2012). The professional career growth of the Australian children has been hampered in this

3SOCIAL ANALYSIS
manner. Thus the theory of the meritocracy can be said to be not applied properly to the girls’
education in Australia (Rigney, 2017).
The racism has also been highly reflected in the Australian schools in the contemporary
times as well. According to some of the government reports, the aspect of multiculturalism has
been considered to be a boon for Australia (Chesters & Watson, 2013). However, the racism
troubles have been increasing within the country for some definite reasons and the talents and
capabilities of the non-white students are not at all recognized or sometimes ignored as well.
Sometimes the students are even being bullied as well (Levinson, Cookson & Sadovnik, 2014).
This will create a negative impact on the minds of the little children as they go to the schools. All
the people should be responsible for this thing indeed. The school drop outs have been increasing
for the non-white and Anglo-Saxon students (Chesters & Watson, 2013).
The poorer sections of the people have been largely deprived of the educational facilities
within the country. The fees for the best courses in Australia are so high and this had been a huge
disadvantage for the poor people as they will not be able to afford those costly courses. This is
believed to be one of the biggest disadvantages for the poor children in the Australian education
system (Fletcher & Guttmann, 2013). As some of the poor people live in the remote areas and
they suffer from the unequal economic developments, it will surely hamper the educational
outcomes of the students. They are deprived of the educational facilities in a large manner. As
these students are not able to get the proper education they have hardly got any chances to live
up to their professional aspirations even if they have the proper merits (Young, 2017).
The children who live in the poor areas face many problems regarding getting educated
since they do not get the proper facilities like their city counterparts. The children living in the

4SOCIAL ANALYSIS
cities have more access to the better educational institutions and they are strong in the economic
powers as well. This inequality has given the rise to many problems and unequal job
distributions as well. In this context some of the most crucial non-merit resources will be
highlighted (Mijs, 2016).
The non-merit factors
There are some non-merit factors in the education system of Australia as well. The first
among them is the effects of inheritance. Many children get admitted to the schools just because
their parents have died because of some accident. That particular child might not have proper
knowledge or capacity than a proper candidate. Thus the seats get blocked and meritorious
children are deprived of getting admitted to schools. The second non-merit disadvantage is that
of the high-power forms that the social and cultural positions provide (Mijs, 2016). However, the
bad luck of the candidates can also provide the non-merit disadvantage of the candidates as well.
In this context, the students having high merits and talents can be deprived of the different
facilities they could have got.
Conclusion
As per the above discussion, the non-merit factors have been very much important to
assess the disadvantages that the students of various fields and the socio-economic classes have
felt. It can be said that these non-merit factors have acted as the potential barriers for the
problems being created. However, one might address this issue as an unwanted one. This is why
it is the responsibility of the education department should make sure that the candidates from all
the sections of the society including the indigenous and aboriginal people should be given the

5SOCIAL ANALYSIS
proper opportunities for the education within Australia. The equal provisions should be provided
to the students since it will create a better Australia in the future.

6SOCIAL ANALYSIS
References
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education: Evidence from Australia. Journal of Education Policy, 28(2), 198-215.
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inequality-in-higher-education-e
Fletcher, M., & Guttmann, B. (2013). Income inequality in Australia. Economic Round-up, (2),
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Ford, M. (2013). Achievement gaps in Australia: What NAPLAN reveals about education
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encyclopedia. Routledge.
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for justice in education. Social Justice Research, 29(1), 14-34. DOI 10.1007/s11211-014-
0228-0
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Tyler, W. (2012). The Sociology of Educational Inequality (RLE Edu L). Routledge.

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Vass, G. (2012). ‘So, what is wrong with Indigenous education?’Perspective, position and power
beyond a deficit discourse. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41(2), 85-
96. https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2012.25
Young, M. (2017). The rise of the meritocracy. Routledge.