- Believing that educational institutions are fair is so ingrained in the educational system. - The UN General Assembly notes that the main purpose of an educational institution is to educate and select students to produce a merit based hierarchy that reflects individual ability and effort. - Most educational institutions also claim that their selection rules are exclusively based on merit. - There is a large body of evidence showing that educational inequality is a considerable challenge - A large study of 5.8 million students showed robust evidence that the socioeconomic status (SES) achievement gap has increased in the past 50 years - A study by OECD in 14 countries noted that the likelihood of attending college is twice as high if at least one parent has a high school diploma and 5 times higher if the parents attended college - Many field studies have shown that lower SES students receive lower grades, lower expectations and lower recommendations from teachers that higher SES students with the same performance level. - Educational institutions may be partially contributing to the reproduction of social inequality. - This belief in meritocracy is also dangerous since it discourages any equalising practices. - A belief in meritocracy also increases the likelihood to embrace internal attributions to explain disadvantaged groups outcomes and a downplaying of racial inequality. - The study ran two experiments - one is a survey where they looked for relationship between a belief in meritocracy and how much equalisation practices they believed in; the second they asked them to read articles defending high and low meritocracy and then giving them a survey. - Results of studies confirmed that belief in school meritocracy was negatively associated with the perception that income inequality is unfair and with lower support for redistributive policies. - Moreover, these negative associations were stronger for more educated participants than less educated participants. This could be because the legitimising effect of belief in school meritocracy is stronger for the "winners" of this supposed meritocracy. The belief in meritocracy serves two purposes - justifies the position of individuals in the hierarchy - reaffirms the merit of their high status and privilege - While education is often heralded as the solution to many of society’s problems the less often talked about and darker side to educational institutions is that one of its core functions is to create a hierarchy. ---- Batruch, Anatolia, et al. "Belief in school meritocracy and the legitimization of social and income inequality." _Social Psychological and Personality Science_ 14.5 (2023): 621-635.