Understanding Merit in an Unequal World
About the Project
Canadian society has high and still rising levels of socioeconomic inequality, which threatens social and health outcomes and limits social mobility opportunities for many Canadians. Given that Canadians broadly value social justice, one might expect rising opposition to these increasing disparities. Yet nearly half of Canadians do not believe that inequalities should be mitigated (Angus Reid, 2016). We contend that this is at least in part due to the widespread belief that Canada is a meritocracy and thus inequalities are due to merit. To be sure, over the past decades, Canada has made strides in eliminating overt legal discrimination and moving toward a more merit-based system -- no longer can one's race, gender, or other identities legally exclude people from education or employment. However, a great deal of current economic inequality is a result of Canada's long history of structural barriers and unfair, non-meritocratic practices. A starkly uneven playing field of cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage both within lifetimes and across generations has produced the existing inequalities in socioeconomic status (SES). In turn, Canada's ostensibly meritocratic system continues to function such that high-SES people can access more opportunity and develop more ostensible "merit" by leveraging their considerable resources and advantages. This creates a situation in which decision-makers operating on well-intended meritocratic principles may select and reward the already-advantaged for their apparently superior merit without calibrating for the effects of unequal opportunity. Moreover, the legacy of socioeconomic disparities in Canada are closely linked to race, Indigeneity, and other marginalized identities, further compounding cumulative disadvantage over time.
Although the belief that Canada is a meritocracy can reflect a well-meaning desire for a fair system, this belief can have pernicious consequences because it leads perceivers to the conclusion that existing disparities are earned and deserved. This can result in blaming the disadvantaged for their fate, opposing redistribution as unwarranted or unfair, and rejecting programs aimed at increasing equitable outcomes. Although we know that most Canadians believe that meritocratic factors (like hard work) underlie success (Angus Reid, 2016), little is known about their lay beliefs about the causes of inequality and the degree to which they recognize the impact of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. We anticipate that many Canadians lack nuanced understanding of these profoundly consequential processes, and contend that educating people about these factors is an essential step in achieving support for fairer and more equitable access to opportunity, workplace outcomes, and societal equity. Accordingly, the current research program has three key objectives: 1) to understand Canadians' lay understanding of the causes of inequality 2) to experimentally test the effects of educating people about cumulative advantage and disadvantage (vs. meritocracy) on people's efforts to counter unfair outcomes produced by these disparities, and 3) to translate and test these educational insights in a training workshop for university admissions professionals.
In an effort to combat discrimination, billions have been spent on implicit bias training despite its limited efficacy (Carter et al., 2020). We argue that an understanding of implicit bias only scratches the surface of understanding inequality. The current research promises to meaningfully extend knowledge of how to combat the effects of intergenerational inequality by increasing Canadians' understanding of its root causes, thereby contributing to education, equity training, and new policy in workplaces and government.