Support (and rejection) of meritocracy as a self‐enhancement identity strategy: A qualitative study of university students’ perceptions about meritocracy in higher education

Abstract

Access to Higher Education (HE) is based on the idea that all students should have the same opportunities, and that merit and hard work, regardless of students' backgrounds, will lead to success. However, inequalities remain despite efforts to provide equal access to HE, raising questions about the validity of such a meritocratic approach.Using qualitative analysis, we interviewed UK university students to understand students' perceptions of meritocracy in HE, and if and how students associated these perceptions with their gender and subjective socioeconomic status identity experiences. Students' perceptions could be described in two main ideas: (a) the perceived commitment of their universities to meritocracy, and (b) their endorsement and rejection of meritocracy as an identity enhancement strategy. Hence, both support and lack of support for meritocracy are strategies used by disadvantaged groups to navigate and cope with the lack of opportunities and socioeconomic disadvantages in HE.

Recognizing the diversity in how students define belonging: evidence of differing conceptualizations, including as a function of students’ gender and socioeconomic background

“…SES Shields, 2008). Furthermore, social identities organise social relationships as they are context-dependent and situated within a social hierarchy (Fernández et al, 2022). Hence, social identities are not neutral categories-they are understood as embodied in power and prestige relationships (McCormick-Huhn et al, 2019).…”

“…However, it has not offered the same level of detail in how individuals might navigate that social hierarchy. A social identity approach helps offer a depiction of such strategies, including the potential that individuals might attempt to boost a positive sense of self (Fernández et al, 2022).…”

“…This study is part of a wider research exploring students experiences in higher education. Hence, we followed the same process and analytic procedure described in Fernández et al, (2022), except for the coding process. We interviewed 36 undergraduate students enrolled in UK universities (19 women and 17 men, see Table 1 in "Appendix").…”