Is Meritocracy a Myth?

Education in the United States is supposed to be meritocratic, meaning a student’s achievement is measured solely by their efforts. But how do class and privilege affect opportunity, and does everyone really get the same shot? Glad You Asked host Fabiola Cineas explores how the myth of meritocracy perpetuates racism while keeping the American dream achievable only for a privileged few.

0:00 Intro
1:44 Is Meritocracy A Myth?
2:51 Playing Rigged
6:02 What Is A Meritocracy?
8:42 Measuring Merit
14:12 Sisters
18:40 Wrap Up

[FinancialShinanigan]

Education is a stepping stone to success. But money, family stability, environment, etc provide more stones

[RealestDave]

Access to a healthy diet and nutrition also has a direct impact on a kids performance and ability to learn and grow as a
human being. Poor diet and and nutrition is plaguing our working class and middle class families statistically.
This can't end well

[bink]

“You start to doubt your abilities as a student in middle school so you begin to act out, take the next detour” oof, I felt this in my bones. Turns out when you have to watch two siblings while your dad works out of state and your mom works night shift, people stop referring to you as “gifted” REAL quick.

[FrancescaPessarelli]

The opportunity gap is so layered. It's not only about quality of public education and the resources at certain schools. It's not even about wifi access at home. It comes down to every aspect of life and society. Access to nourishing food so that children grow up healthy, energized, and ready to learn. Access to income supplements so that kids don't need to work after school and can focus that time on studying or curricular activities. Better low income housing standards so that people have healthy, safe places to live and study. Universal healthcare so that kids have access to prescription glasses, speech therapy, and other learning supports. It's tragic how often kids with dyslexia, poor eyesight, malnourishment, or lack of sleep are just labeled stupid and pushed to the side. We need comprehensive social reform and I'm so glad people are having this conversation.

[dharmani_youtube]

Genuine question since I am not familiar with living in US, how do Asian minorities manage to score well (based on the graphs shown here) despite the racism against them? Many Asians have had to build their lives from scratch in the US since the last 3 decades, if I am right, and basically started from 0. How did they manage the access gap is something I am unaware of. Happy to learn from a constructive discussion.

[yenzyhebron]

"You can't do the homework because the wifi is out." This hits differently after a year of crawling through remote "learning".

[macomputersuck]

I'm disappointed that you didn't mention how public schools are funded by property taxes. That plays a large role in the differences between different public schools. When you combine that with the fact that the effects of redlining are still felt to this day, you can start to see the real problems facing our education system.

[pctLowBattery]

This is what inherited wealth looks like for the top 20%, ” Reeves said. “You don’t save your money and give it to your kids as a bequest. You spend it on your kids so they don’t need the bequest. It’s an upfront investment.”

But as universities tilt their admissions toward the wealthy, Reeves said, they aren’t just leaving talented low-income students behind. They’re also lifting mediocre rich students up. A 2005 study found that wealthy middle-schoolers with the lowest standardized test scores were more likely to graduate from college than poor middle-schoolers with the highest scores. Students with average SAT results are nearly six times more likely to be admitted to top-tier universities if their parents are alumni. One of Reeves’ studies found that 43% of the members of upper-class households had skills and intelligence that predicted lower incomes.
The 'Glass Floor' Is Keeping America's Richest Idiots At The Top - HuffPost

[scottmead]

Sure, more resources definitely can give an individual an advantage. But I think culture also matters a lot though. I know many poor Asian families whose kids did well at school because of the emphasis they placed on education. Similarly, you see many children of celebrities couldn't care less about school despite having all the wealth to succeed.

[tariqtopey]

A privileged kid born into a rich family favorite line: "If you just work harder, you'll be successful too."

[bhavyaghai]

It seems the real issue here is wealth inequality and not meritocracy. There is no doubt that better resources might lead to better scores. However, it doesn't mean that hard work and talent are irrelevant. It should be noted that not all rich kids get a perfect score and not all poor kids fail miserably. This shows that there are other factors at play apart from wealth/resources. Meritocracy is important because it provides an incentive to work harder. Overall, I feel serious steps should be taken to improve public schools and wealth distribution.

[TheSupremeIllusion]

As a 1st gen college student, I really appreciate this take on education b/c the perpetual struggle that is put on you by society to constantly compete to survive can take a toll on your mental health

[corywarshaw]

So I'm basically sold on the negative argument that we don't have a meritocracy. But what I never hear is a positive argument for an alternative. Could you ever devise a system where people with more resources won't do better? And what trade-offs would be required to make that happen?

[ctjfd]

The stories of "rags to riches" or how anyone can get out of the hood through "hardwork" especially pisses me off, because as you said, now we look at those same kids who suffer from lack of opportunity and we tell them "well, ____ became successful, why can't you?"

[mancerrss]

Vox need to release that board game as merch STAT.

Or at least make the design printable on Community Members

[clem]

“Your big brother was shot.” That got dark real quick

[ruinedfall]

based off on how my country (not the US) looks at meritocracy, i'd say that i don't buy into meritocracy when it's preached by the elites

[eakherenow]

Finland has the highest test scores IN THE WORLD and they DON'T do test, barely have homework but they DO have equal opportunity schools.

[empirestate]

Meritocracy itself isn't the problem; lack of equal opportunity is. Some poorer communities in West Virginia, New York, and other states have to put up with spotty internet access, terrible public schools, a lack of extracurricular activities, and often times drugs and violence on the streets. Meanwhile, public schools in well-off neighborhoods tend to be much better. This problem doesn't discriminate based on race; poor people across all races face this problem.

[keshified]

I know it's not apples to apples, but where I'm from my ethnicity (Chinese-Filipino) was treated as second rate citizens for 400 years yet the majority of the wealthiest families here now are Chinese-Filipino.

While the same can't be totally said in the US, Asian-Americans there have been discriminated against, surely, yet they're still finding ways to be the best compared to other ethnicities there. Why is that?