Meritocracy In The Education System

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Summary: The analytical lens that will be constructed aims to allow for an interpretation of how students who are attempting to be upwardly-mobile are helped with moving beyond roadblocks that prevent mobility. This is mobility is achieved through a combination of adherence to meritocratic systems and the borrowing of cultural capital. I will argue that reproduction occurs when reliance on meritocracy in the educational system and the limited cultural capital of the student’s working-class parent/s are solely employed. In order to move beyond a mere reproduction of the parent’s social class, I argue that the student must interact with individuals or groups from higher social spheres who know how to activate cultural capital in specific instances …show more content…

This is rise to the top is achieved by all of those that are deserving, all who are able to demonstrate ability, despite their individual race, class, gender, or any other characteristic that is not based on merit. The purpose of a meritocracy, rather than a bureaucracy, is to form a class of elite individuals that are expected to be the most qualified in their line of work (Hayes 2012; 31, 53). In addition to assigning the best people to their respective positions, the meritocracy is also used to instill in people a sense of social belonging and order. When a person is placed in their respective class in society, it is done with careful precision that takes into account only the person’s true worthiness i.e. their merit (Young 1994; 97). The certainty of one’s place in a meritocracy leads to how this concept can be viewed as an …show more content…

It is not a neutral description of a system. The beliefs and values tell a story as to why things things are done in a particular way. People who are ruled in these systems are kept complacent. Every social system, including a meritocratic social system, has an ideology which functions to explain and justify its own existence as a way of life. The ideology of meritocracy reinforces the social system so that everyone is made to feel confident in their placement in society and accepts it without question. Individuals continue to work within the system because the narrative feels natural and unquestionable; they believe that it is working for the advantage of everyone. There is no way to test whether a system actually works which means that the system can neither be proven right or wrong. This unquestioning following happens for students at an early age which helps understand how Marx’s social reproduction theory

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