tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/meritocracy-31970/articlesMeritocracy – The Conversation2023-06-28T16:55:23Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2079932023-06-28T16:55:23Z2023-06-28T16:55:23ZIs ‘wokeism’ slowly killing scientific merit? Look to the latter for the real threat to science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534051/original/file-20230626-19-t91dl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C4521%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has become quite common to complain nowadays that, given the overall concern for marginalized groups and the claim that social justice should be of interest to anyone, ideology rules science. Some go even as far as comparing the current research system with <a href="https://ethos.lps.library.cmu.edu/article/id/560/">Lysenkoism</a>, a flawed approach to plant genetics promoted by Soviet and Chinese authorities.</p>
<p>Such as the case with an April 27 op-ed in the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hurtful-idea-of-scientific-merit-controversy-nih-energy-research-f122f74d">“The ‘hurtful’ idea of scientific merit”</a>, by scientists Jerry Coyne and Anna Krylov. Institutions and journals, they asserted, have forgotten “scientific merit” and replaced it with ideology, fearing that the so-called “wokists” are supported by governments and official agencies in the same way that Trofim Lysenko’s false theory of the inheritance of acquired characters was enforced by Stalin. If true, this is terrible news, since in USSR the ideological supremacy of Lysenkoism led to many executions and exiles.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534045/original/file-20230626-7296-eraf42.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The adoption of Trofim Lysenko’s pseudo-scientific ideas contributed to the famines that killed millions of people in the USSR and China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofim_Lysenko#/media/File:Trofim_Lysenko_portrait.jpg">Russian Federation foundation/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The “anti-wokeist” have raised analogous critiques on many occasions. An example in the humanities was the denouncement of the disclosure of the relations between poet <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/25/british-library-apologises-for-linking-ted-hughes-to-slave-trade?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">Ted Hughes’s family and slavery</a>. In psychology, there was the case where the introduction of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721417753600">notion of “white privilege” in psychology</a> was criticized.</p>
<h2>The tricky concept of scientific merit</h2>
<p>Coyne and Krylov speak of biology, but one would easily admit that the controversies over so-called wokism, social justice and truth are a concern for academia overall, which includes natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and law. Their claim is supposed to hold for academia in general, and “scientific merit” is here synonymous with “academic merit”. (These two terms will be used equivalently hereafter.) But such notion of “scientific merit” is obscure, and in the absence of a reliable method to measure it, invoking it is an empty claim. Worse, the way merit itself is used by institutions and policies proves ultimately much more deleterious to science than any radicalized “social-justice warrior ideology”, if this phrase is even meaningful.</p>
<p>“Merit” in academia means that one should be credited with a robust and measurable contribution to science. Yet when a discovery is made or some theorem is proved, this is always based on former works, as it has been reminded us through an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01313-5">exhaustive reconstitution</a> of the role Rosalind Franklin played in the worldly praised discovery of DNA (1953) by Crick and Watson, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for this while Franklin died four years earlier. Hence the attribution of merit is complicated by the inextricability of causal contributions, making the notion of “intellectual credit” complex, as is the very idea of an “author”, to whom this credit in principle is due. As in a soccer or handball team, parsing each player’s contributions to the goal the team scored is no trivial business.</p>
<p>Thus, social conventions have been invented to overcome this almost metaphysical underdetermination of the “author” (and hence her or his merit). In science, one of them is the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198117"><em>disciplines</em></a>: being an author is not the same in mathematics as in sociology, and disciplines determine what is required to sign a paper, hence to be an author within a given field. Another conventional tool is the <em>citation</em> – the more one is cited, the higher their merit.</p>
<p>Citation rankings are therefore supposed to track the genuine <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691125169/on-justification"><em>grandeur</em></a> of individuals. Estimating this requires listing all papers signed by an individual and cited by their peers, and gives rise to metrics such as the <em>impact factor</em> (for journals) or the <em>h-index</em> (for scientists), which are the basis of our merit system in science, since any assessment of one’s academic and chances to be hired, promoted or funded in any country juggles with such combined figures. As Canadian sociologist <a href="https://www.ost.uqam.ca/en/publications/the-transformation-of-the-scientific-paper-from-knowledge-to-accounting-unit/">Yves Gingras put it</a>, while the “paper” had been a unit of knowledge for four centuries, it is now also a unit of evaluation and is used daily by hiring committees and funding agencies worldwide.</p>
<p>Unlike what Coyne and Krylov say, these intend to find the most meriting scientists by tracking the number of citations and publications – the latter allowing one to increase the former, since the more papers you publish, the more citations your work will get. Hearing that China is now the <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-now-publishes-more-high-quality-science-than-any-other-nation-should-the-us-be-worried-192080">first publishing country</a> and worrying about its imminent victory in the race for publications, as we daily hear it, only makes sense if you equate science’s value with these grandeur metrics.</p>
<h2>Where science loses out in the idea of merit</h2>
<p>Yet measuring scientific merit in this way damages the quality of science for three reasons that have been analysed by scientists themselves. The overall result is that such kind of measurement yields “natural selection from bad science”, as the evolutionary biologists Paul E. Smaldino and Richard McElreath put it in a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.160384">2016 paper</a>. Why?</p>
<p>First, one can easily game the metrics – for example, by slicing one paper into two, or writing one more paper by solely tweaking the parameters of a model. Obviously, this strategy unnecessarily expands the amount of literature that researchers have to read and thereby increases the difficulty of distinguishing signal from noise in a growing forest of academic papers. Shortcuts such as fraud or plagiarism are also thereby incentivized; no wonder that agencies for scientific integrity and trackers of scientific misconduct have proliferated.</p>
<p>Second, this measure of merit induces less exploratory science, since being exploratory takes time and risks finding nothing so that your competitors will reap all the rewards. For the same reason, journals will favour what ecologists traditionally refer to as <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fdec0000033"><em>exploitation</em> rather than <em>exploration</em> of new territories</a>, since their impact factor relies on citation numbers. A recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05543-x%23citeas"><em>Nature</em> paper</a> argued that science became much less disruptive in the last decade, while bibliometry-based assessments have flourished.</p>
<p>Finally, even if one wants to keep a measure of merit related to publication activity, bibliometry-based merit is unidimensional because real science – as revealed by its computer-assisted quantitative study – develops as an unfolding landscape rather than a linear progress. Therein, what constitutes a “major contribution” to science could take several forms, depending on where one stands in this landscape.</p>
<h2>Rethinking scientific progress</h2>
<p>At the ISC-PIF (Paris) <a href="https://iscpif.fr/projects/gargantext/?lang=en">researchers have mapped the dynamics of science</a> by detecting over the years the emergence, fusion, fission, and divergence of topics defined by clusters of correlated words (as exemplified in the figure below about the field of quantum computing, where fissions and merging that occurred in the history of the field are graphically visible). It appears that the kinds of work done by scientists in distinct stages of arising, growth, or decline of a field (understood here as a set of topics) are very different, and yield incomparable types of merits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534625/original/file-20230628-21-uoc72f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=579&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Advances over time in the field of quantum computing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a field is mature, it is easy to produce many papers. However, when it is emerging – for instance by the fission of a field or the fusion of two previous ones – the publications and audiences are scarce, so that one cannot produce as many papers as a competitor working in a more mature field. Levelling everything through common reference to citation numbers – notwithstanding how refined might be the metrics – will always miss the proper nature of each specific contribution to science.</p>
<p>Whatever the word <em>merit</em> means in science, it is multidimensional, thus all bibliometry-based indexes and metrics will miss it because they will turn it into a unidimensional figure. But this ill-defined and ill-measured merit, as the basis of any assessment of scientists and therefore allocation of resources (positions, grants, etc.), will be instrumental in shaping the physiognomy of academia and thereby corrupt science in a firmer way than any ideology.</p>
<p>Therefore, vindicating merit as it is currently assessed is not a gold standard for science. In turn, such merit is already known to be a deleterious approach to knowledge production, yielding several negative consequences for science as well as for scientists.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>While some worry “wokeist” ideology could corrupt scientific merit, it could be our problematic understanding of the latter poses an even greater threat to science, two philosophers argue.Philippe Huneman, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Institut d'histoire et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneDavid Chavalarias, Research director, Centre d’Analyses de Mathématiques Sociales (CAMS), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992082023-02-07T09:02:12Z2023-02-07T09:02:12ZSouth Africa’s ruling party has favoured loyalty over competence - now cadre deployment has come back to bite it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508636/original/file-20230207-17-m2lqtf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supra Mahumapelo, former premier of North West Province, former president Jacob Zuma and current president Cyril Ramaphosa at an ANC celebration in 2016.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thulani Mbele/Sowetan/Gallo Images/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321223498_The_African_National_Congress_ANC_and_the_Cadre_Deployment_Policy_in_the_Postapartheid_South_Africa_A_Product_of_Democratic_Centralisation_or_a_Recipe_for_a_Constitutional_Crisis">Cadre deployment</a> is one of the best-known policies of the African National Congress (ANC), which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid <a href="https://www.britannica.com/question/How-did-apartheid-end">in 1994</a>. And many of the party’s woes over the past decade can be traced back to it. </p>
<p>The concept of “deployment” has a strong military association. Conventionally, it is about tactical deployment of troops or infrastructure during military operations. In this instance it is used to describe how the ANC places people in strategic positions at various levels of government.</p>
<p>“Cadre” refers to a dedicated, highly motivated and trained member of an organisation or party. Not all members of such an organisation are, therefore, cadres. During its years as an underground organisation when many of its members were in exile, the ANC used the term to describe members who were ideologically schooled in party thinking. The term is much more loosely applied today.</p>
<p>Cadre deployment is part of official ANC policy. It is applied at national, provincial and local level. </p>
<p>But there is growing <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2077-49072021000100015">discontent</a> in the country about it. Many blame it for the widespread corruption and mismanagement in government. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has gone to court to have the policy declared illegal and <a href="https://cdn.da.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/27130536/2.-Founding-Affidavit-Signed.pdf">against the constitution</a>. </p>
<p>It is unrealistic to argue that there should be no political involvement in important appointments in the public service. It happens in almost all political systems. Take, for example, the American president’s role in <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm">nominating all new judges of the Supreme Court</a>. The Senate must confirm these appointments, but the nomination process is a party political one. This is not regarded as unlawful or unconstitutional.</p>
<p>So why the deep concern about it in South Africa? Can the practice be reconciled with the democratic tradition?</p>
<h2>The problem with cadre deployment</h2>
<p>One of many components of any effective democracy is regular changes in government. Changes in which party governs a country are accompanied by changes in the top political appointments in the public service. This avoids party appointees becoming entrenched in their positions. </p>
<p>The problem for South Africa is that only one party has run the national government since 1994. It means that a rotation of senior officials with different political orientations has not happened. It also means that specific views and practices have become entrenched, and the procedural protection provided by checks and balances have become ineffective. Merit as a prerequisite for senior appointments was replaced by party loyalty. </p>
<p>More recently, the ANC is experiencing the public’s unhappiness with this state of affairs. It has already <a href="https://theconversation.com/local-council-turmoil-shows-south-africa-isnt-very-good-at-coalitions-128489">lost its majority in major cities</a> such as Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub; Tshwane, the seat of government; and Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape, the party’s historical stronghold.</p>
<p>Behind this loss of support are state capture, poor service delivery and a decline in state institutional capacity.</p>
<p>The common denominator in all of them is cadre deployment. </p>
<h2>The ANC and cadre deployment</h2>
<p>Cadre deployment as an ANC policy is used for two purposes. The first is to appoint its members to key public positions. The second is internally in the ANC, for members who move from one position to another. In the past, it used to be an honour for a member to claim that he or she was deployed as a cadre. That’s because it suggested that the member is disciplined, obeys the ANC’s instructions and is not motivated by personal interests. That honourable association with the policy has turned into a negative perception for the public in general. </p>
<p>Over the last two decades, the policy has increasingly come under attack for justifying the appointment of key people who are not necessarily qualified for their positions, and who even act in their own interests. Even in the case of qualified persons, their appointments happened under the cloud of privileged treatment and not a level playing field.</p>
<p>Cadre deployment has also become contentious within the ANC itself because of growing factionalism. This practice influences who are appointed as cabinet ministers and senior managers of state-owned enterprises and the public service.</p>
<p>Discontent with the way the policy has been implemented has led to some proposed changes. </p>
<p>In October 2022 the cabinet <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/remarks-acting-minister-public-service-and-administration-mr-tw-nxesi-cabinet-approval">adopted</a> the “National Framework towards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector”. It <a href="https://www.polity.org.za/article/cabinet-wants-ancs-cadre-deployment-policy-ditched-2022-10-27">agreed that</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>the cadre deployment practices must be reconsidered for merit-based recruitment and selection in the public sector.</p>
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<p>Earlier, in August 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed legislation that prevents city managers and senior municipal officers from <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/politics/parliament/depoliticising-municipalities-ramaphosa-signs-law-barring-municipal-managers-from-political-office-20220818">holding office in any political party</a>. </p>
<p>The two decisions are important steps in separating the powers of the political executive and the public service. Enforcement of this new principle will not be easy, but it sets an alternative for cadre deployment.</p>
<h2>Big challenges</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/notices/2018/20180713-gg41772_gen396-SCAPcomms-Rules.pdf">Zondo Commission</a>, which investigated corruption, fraud, maladministration and unethical conduct during former president Jacob Zuma’s administration, concluded that cadre deployment <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202206/electronic-state-capture-commission-report-part-vi-vol-ii.pdf">contributed towards state capture</a>.</p>
<p>This conclusion adds a judicial aspect to criticism of the policy, and also questions its moral justification.</p>
<p>The DA was motivated by the commission’s report to challenge cadre deployment in court. The party wants to have the policy declared unlawful and against the constitution. </p>
<p>The case is significant in many respects. </p>
<p>Firstly, it has created an opportunity for the DA to challenge the ANC on how it has structured the relationship between the party, government and state. The cadre deployment policy can show how the three became conflated at an early stage of the ANC’s tenure in power.</p>
<p>Abuse of cadre deployment, moreover, puts the ANC’s record of governance and service delivery in the spotlight. Given the policy, the ANC cannot claim that its bad governance record is primarily due to bad officials or individual problems. Cadre deployment means that the party has to take responsibility for the poor standard of governance – not just implicated individual officials. </p>
<p>This line of thinking has emerged as a contentious matter in the question of <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/eskoms-problems-primarily-due-to-failure-of-ancs-policies-%206e135683-9a9f-4be0-af4f-7d53fd651b2a">who should carry responsibility for the failures of the power utility, Eskom</a>.</p>
<p>Secondly, the court case gives the DA an opportunity to link cadre deployment to state capture in general, and the ANC’s abuse of government powers. This allows it to challenge the ruling party’s moral claim to be the main agent for transforming South Africa into a democratic and humane society. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the court case presents a serious predicament for the ANC. Many of its members joined the party because of the job opportunities that cadre deployment provides. If the ANC distances itself from the policy it will lose some of its attraction.</p>
<h2>The end of an era?</h2>
<p>It is very likely to lose momentum. The decline in support for the ANC suggests that coalition governments will become increasingly common in the country. It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-stable-national-coalition-government-in-south-africa-possible-but-only-if-elites-put-countrys-interests-first-193828">possible that the ANC will have to share power</a> in the national sphere after the <a href="https://www.eisa.org/calendar2024.php">2024 general election</a>. Governing in coalitions will make it virtually impossible for cadre deployment to continue in its current form. </p>
<p>The implication of these changes in power relations is that cadre deployment in its ANC format will have to make way for a different relationship between the governing parties and senior public servants. </p>
<p>Instead of regular government rotations, the diversification of government in the form of coalitions will also serve as necessary checks and balances on the political-bureaucratic relations and transform cadre deployment into a more acceptable practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dirk Kotze does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The decline in support for the ANC suggests that coalition governments will become increasingly common in the country, affecting its appointment policy.Dirk Kotze, Professor in Political Science, University of South AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942952022-11-20T06:29:48Z2022-11-20T06:29:48ZAl-Shabaab in Somalia has resisted military force: now is the time for a new strategy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495037/original/file-20221114-22-1j0dek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Somali soldier looks out from a military base where a US special operations soldier was killed by a mortar attack south of Mogadishu in 2018.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In October 2022, Somalia’s capital Mogadishu suffered yet another <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/30/hundreds-killed-wounded-in-heinous-mogadishu-car-bombings">massive suicidal attack</a>. More than 100 people were killed. Hundreds more were wounded and thousands will have been traumatised by an attack claimed by the Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab.</p>
<p>The attack was carried out on the fifth anniversary of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/15/truck-bomb-mogadishu-kills-people-somalia">most destructive suicide attack</a> in Somalia’s history, on 14 October 2017. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for that one too.</p>
<p>The devastation continues despite more than 15 years of effort by successive federal regimes in Mogadishu and the international community to end Al-Shabaab’s insurgent activities. These counter strategies included attacking them from the sky and sending Somali and African Union forces to fight them on the ground.</p>
<p>Some, such as Somalia’s recently elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and his inner circle, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-will-eliminate-terrorism-president-tells-un-general-assembly-/6760778.html">argue</a> that the organisation is a spent force. They say Al-Shabaab has been <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/strengthening-somalias-security-conversation-he-president-hassan-sheikh-mohamud">enfeebled and is now on the run</a>.</p>
<p>But in my perspective, based on my extensive <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2018.1479186">studies</a> of Al-Shabaab since the time when it was part of the Union of Islamic Courts which governed Somalia in the mid-2000s, this isn’t true.</p>
<p>Al-Shabaab remains a strong regional actor and has proved itself to be a resilient force. It has so far defeated all attempts (both internal and external) at eradicating it on the battlefield. This includes the deployment of Somali, western and African Union troops. </p>
<p>As the eminent Cambridge Horn of Africa veteran scholar Christopher Clapham rightly <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Horn_of_Africa.html?id=_SYFMQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">wrote</a> in 2017, Al-Shabaab </p>
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<p>remains better placed than the officially recognised regime to build up its authority from below, by acting as the most visible defender of Somali nationalism and identity against an international attempt to impose political order from above. It remains a strong regional actor and is able to inflict terrible damage on Somalia itself.</p>
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<p>This suggests that pro-western local Somali actors should rethink the combative approach that has failed for the past 15 years. The federal regime in Mogadishu, which enjoys international support, should also change tack.</p>
<p>A non-war strategic option would aim at direct talks with Al-Shabaab leadership, just as the United States did with the Taliban in Afghanistan. This started with a series of talks in Qatar that culminated in the US <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/topics/us-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-107386">withdrawal</a> from Kabul.</p>
<p>The image of Al-Shabaab described by Somalis living under their territories is that of a movement that is adaptable and incorruptible. This is in contrast to alternative centres of power built around clans and clan power dynamics in the periphery. This reveals that the organisation has remarkably disciplined leadership, despite the continuous elimination of its senior leaders by US drones. All in all, Al-Shabaab’s persistence is also due to its unique Islamic (though militant) leadership development, which promotes meritocracy in place of clannism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/citizens-of-fragile-states-can-fund-public-services-directly-its-working-in-somalia-171541">Citizens of fragile states can fund public services directly – it's working in Somalia</a>
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<h2>Al-Shabaab’s strength and the government’s weakness</h2>
<p>Al-Shabaab continues to show its might on the streets of Mogadishu. Following the October <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/africa/twin-blasts-rock-mogadishu-as-somali-president-sheikh-mohamud-meets-security-officials-4001982">attack</a>, Al-Shabaab forces also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/somalia-president-least-100-people-killed-car-bombs-2022-10-30/">bombed</a> the busiest road during the day in Mogadishu. </p>
<p>A few days later, they shelled Maka Al-Mukarammah Road, the busiest road during the night in Mogadishu. This prompted a Somali security company to <a href="https://eagleranges.com/2022/10/15/eagle-ranges-services-security-bulletin-vol-2/">report</a> that Al-Shabaab had become more organised, dangerous and wealthy than it was before.</p>
<p>The armed group has gained informal control of Mogadishu. This is clear from its capture of the Laba-Buundaale settlement on the outskirts of Mogadishu in September.</p>
<p>This imperils a regime that is still standing only because of the continued presence of regional forces as well as the fact that the international community is sustaining it financially.</p>
<p>Somalia is profoundly fragmented, and the dysfunctionality of the state is unprecedented in the Africa. In my observation, Somalia has no functioning state and is no longer a state capable of protecting itself from Al-Shabaab, let alone protecting its people.</p>
<p>The federal government is both weak and without public legitimacy. This lack of legitimacy – developed from its lack of inclusiveness and unwillingness to share power – prevents the federal regime from consolidating its authority outside of Mogadishu. Since the ouster of the military regime in January 1991, no group or government has proved capable of restoring the once unified state, let alone controlling the entirety of Somalia.</p>
<p>Al-Shabaab is now on the verge of capturing the capital, especially its concentration is geared towards seizing the presidential palace and the airport. They are back clandestinely to Mogadishu after many trained rank-and-file members were forced by the US airstrikes in recent months to flee to the southern port city of Kismayu for sanctuary.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-somali-clan-elders-could-hold-the-key-to-opening-dialogue-with-al-shabaab-152759">Why Somali clan elders could hold the key to opening dialogue with Al-Shabaab</a>
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<h2>The case for power-sharing</h2>
<p>Successive Somali regimes, including the current one, have never attempted to officially negotiate with Al-Shabaab. Instead, all presidents wore military fatigues and insisted on the military approach. But they didn’t achieve a decisive victory.</p>
<p>The current regime has gone even further by <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/farmers-turned-fighters-in-somalias-grassroots-offensive-against-al-shabaab-12719627">declaring</a> a clan-based war on Al-Shabaab. To this end, various clans in central Somalia regions have been mobilising ragtag militia to fight Al-Shabaab alongside the federal regime forces. Hundreds of peripheral clan militias were involved in clashes that began in August.</p>
<p>While encouraging clans to fight against Al-Shabaab, the federal regime did not provide those clans with the necessary resources and equipment. Al-Shabaab has taken advantage of the disorganised nature of these clans to seize more territory and to attack in the centre of Mogadishu in broad daylight.</p>
<p>The military strategy of dealing with Al-Shabaab through clan militias ignores the fact that it, in the first place, operates freely in areas run by clans that feel marginalised by the broader clan-dominated “federal” fiefdoms. The current “federal” state structure in Mogadishu, which is <a href="https://hiiraan.com/op4/2022/jun/186645/clan_federalism_in_somalia.aspx">clan-centric</a> in nature, is legitimate in the eyes of the international community that <a href="https://www.c-r.org/accord/somalia/political-representation-somalia-citizenship-clanism-and-territoriality">imposed</a> it. But it is not legitimate in the eyes of so many Somalis, both inside and outside Somalia.</p>
<h2>A political settlement</h2>
<p>The calls for clans to intensify the war against Al-Shabaab without the lead of the centre is the last desperate attempts to face Al-Shabaab militarily. American drones have failed to do that. So has more than 15 years of the African Union armed mission inside Somalia. The clan strategy appears to be ending up in failure after failure.</p>
<p>The military approach cannot continue to be the only one approach. What’s needed is support for a Somali-owned political settlement between the federal regime and Al-Shabaab. Without seeking domestic legitimacy through genuine power-sharing, it would be hard for the federal regime to win over Al-Shabaab. The only way left for dealing with Al-Shabaab is initiating a political settlement. This is the right time to seize such an opportunity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohamed Haji Ingiriis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Al-Shabaab remains a strong regional actor and has proved itself to be a resilient force. It’s time to weigh a non-war strategic optionMohamed Haji Ingiriis, Fellow, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877062022-08-28T08:06:40Z2022-08-28T08:06:40ZSouth Africa has a plan to make its public service professional. It’s time to act on it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480412/original/file-20220822-76834-icpinc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cyril Ramaphosa made the creation of a capable, ethical public service a primary focus when he came to power in 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A professional, efficient and effective public service is key to a government’s ability to deliver on its mandate. That’s why <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">South Africa’s constitution</a> requires that the public service be institutionalised as a profession. Appointments must be based on merit and public servants are supposed to be honest, neutral and fair. </p>
<p>Such a public service is a distinctive feature of modern democracy. It means the government bureaucracy is not tied to an incumbent political party. It remains in place no matter which party is in power, and is non-partisan. Administration can continue when political power changes hands.</p>
<p>A professional public service optimises state efficiency by embracing meritocracy. </p>
<p>This means employing only the brightest, best qualified and most competent personnel, with a strong ethical orientation. It requires that civil servants perform their duties with diligence, care and empathy.</p>
<p>South Africa’s <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/SAConstitution-web-eng-10.pdf">constitution</a> is emphatic about this. It even establishes the Public Service Commission as the custodian of professionalism. </p>
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<p>There shall be an efficient, non-partisan, career-oriented public service broadly representative of the South African community functioning on a basis of fairness and which shall serve all members of the public in an unbiased and impartial manner…</p>
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<p>Almost 30 years into democracy, the country hasn’t got there yet. </p>
<p>Two key initiatives to build state capability through professionalisation of the public service are under way. One is the <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/storage/app/media/Bills/2021/B16_2021_Public_Administration_Laws_General_Amendment_Bill/B16_2021_Public_Administration_Laws_General_Amendment_Bill.pdf">Public Service Act Amendment Bill</a>, which is before parliament. The other is the draft <a href="http://www.psc.gov.za/documents/reports/2015/PUBLIC_SERVICE_COMMISSION_AMENDMENT_BILL.pdf">Public Service Commission Bill</a>, which is yet to be tabled.</p>
<p>The Public Service Amendment Bill devolves administrative powers to the directors-general, who are the heads of government departments. The powers apply to the human resources management and organisation of their departments. The bill aligns these powers with the directors-general’s financial responsibilities outlined in the <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/act.pdf">Public Finance Management Act</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution-republic-south-africa-rationalisation-public-administration-replacement-laws#:%7E:text=The%20Public%20Service%20Act%2C%201994,service%2C%20and%20matters%20connected%20therewith.">Public Service Act</a>, which this bill seeks to amend, assigns the administrative powers to the ministers. Yet the Public Finance Management Act places the management of public finances on the directors-general. </p>
<p>These contradictions <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589340701715505">cause conflicts</a> between ministers and directors-general. The bill seeks to end these. </p>
<p>The Public Service Commission Bill extends the commission’s mandate to cover local government as well as national and provincial public entities <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/public%20entities/2019-05-24%20Public%20institutions%20Sch%201-3D.pdf">covered by the Public Finance Management Act</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-local-government-in-south-africa-needs-political-solutions-not-technical-ones-161004">Fixing local government in South Africa needs political solutions, not technical ones</a>
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<p>These bills are long overdue. They will give effect to a <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/national-implementation-framework-towards-professionalisation-public-service-comments">framework</a> that was gazetted in 2020 for public comment, and has benefited from wide consultation.</p>
<p>The framework should not be allowed to fall away. It seeks to follow through with the intentions of the constitution and the 2012 <a href="https://www.gov.za/issues/national-development-plan-2030">National Development Plan</a>. The plan is the country’s long-range blueprint for socioeconomic transformation.</p>
<h2>The history</h2>
<p>At the end of apartheid in 1994, the public service was bloated and inefficient. The bureaucracy had to be dismantled to mirror the country’s demographics. That basically meant appointing more black people to key positions. </p>
<p>This was also important to avoid the sabotage of the democratic project by apartheid-era officialdom, which the governing African National Congress (ANC) <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0020852310381204">inherited</a>.</p>
<p>But the need to transform was misapplied in a way that hampered efforts to make professionalism and meritocracy the guiding norms for a career public service. Without them, transformation became insidious. This was especially so during former president Jacob Zuma’s <a href="http://47zhcvti0ul2ftip9rxo9fj9.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Betrayal-of-the-Promise-25052017.pdf">state capture era</a> <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/profiles/president-jacob-zuma-0">(May 2009-February 2018)</a>. </p>
<p>In practice, the terms of directors-general, who are the administrative heads of government departments, are tied to those of ministers, who are their political heads. The bureaucrats are almost always replaced when a new minister is appointed or if there are <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/breaking-human-settlements-dg-to-be-transferred-following-mediation-process-with-minister-20220611">conflicts between them</a>. </p>
<p>This is one reason for the high turnover of directors-general – <a href="https://www.nationalplanningcommission.org.za/assets/Documents/NDP%20REVIEW.pdf#page=55">between 24 and 48 months</a>. Institutional memory is lost and <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/archives/citypress/the-high-cost-of-revolving-dg-syndrome-20150430">state capacity weakened</a>. </p>
<p>Despite all this, the post-apartheid state has spawned pockets of excellence in institutional capability. Key among these is the South African Revenue Service. Its success at professionalisation, as evidenced by regularly beating revenue collection targets, became a <a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2022-07-06-sars-compliance-and-the-lost-opportunity-to-build-trust/">Harvard University case study</a>. It was also <a href="https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/epdf/10.1596/978-1-4648-0768-8">cited by the World Bank</a> for its lessons on institutional reforms and public sector governance. </p>
<p>The agency attracted top talent. Professionalism and integrity became the fundamentals of its institution. This was possible as it was given autonomy from the public sector bargaining forum. It could negotiate wages with employees directly.</p>
<p>Its successes were not used as a model for the entire public service, though. Instead, the agency was <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/sites/default/files/SARS%20Commission%20Final%20Report.pdf">nearly run down</a> during Zuma’s tenure. It is in the process of <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-capture-eroded-institutions-in-south-africa-how-the-revenue-service-is-rebuilding-itself-187891">being rebuilt</a>.</p>
<p>In 2012, the government adopted the <a href="https://www.gov.za/issues/national-development-plan-2030">National Development Plan</a>. It underscored the need to make the public service professional.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-fix-south-africas-dysfunctional-state-ditch-its-colonial-heritage-99087">To fix South Africa's dysfunctional state, ditch its colonial heritage</a>
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<p>In 2014, the constitution’s prescription of the values and principles governing public administration were written into legislation – the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201501/38374gon1054act11of2014.pdf">Public Administration Management Act</a>. </p>
<p>The Public Service Act Amendment Bill and the Public Service Commission Bill are key to giving effect to the government’s efforts to <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/national-implementation-framework-towards-professionalisation-public-service-comments">institutionalise professionalisation of the public service</a>. </p>
<p>These critically important interventions are yet to be concluded and signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. </p>
<h2>Building state capacity</h2>
<p>Reeling from the aftermath of COVID, coupled with the energy crisis, and amid the surging socioeconomic challenges of <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12075">poverty</a>, <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/Media%20release%20QLFS%20Q2%202022.pdf">unemployment</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-underscores-gross-inequalities-in-south-africa-and-the-need-to-fix-them-135070">inequality</a>, it has never been more urgent to build state capacity.</p>
<p>The amendment bills need to be expedited. They are important to put the national framework in place for the professionalisation of the public service. Some of the framework’s proposals do not require legislative amendments, new policies, regulations, or ministerial directives. </p>
<p>Of critical importance, the framework proposes ditching <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321223498_The_African_National_Congress_ANC_and_the_Cadre_Deployment_Policy_in_the_Postapartheid_South_Africa_A_Product_of_Democratic_Centralisation_or_a_Recipe_for_a_Constitutional_Crisis">deployment practices</a> – placing party loyalists in key government positions. These practices served their purpose in the earlier days of democracy.</p>
<p>As the late anti-apartheid activist and economist Ben Turok <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-06-25-public-servants-should-be-employed-not-deployed/">said</a>:</p>
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<p>public servants should be employed, not deployed… they should have security of tenure, and… the public service should be independent and not subject to the whims of individual politicians.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mashupye Herbert Maserumule receives funding from National Research Foundation. He is a member of the National Planning Commission</span></em></p>Almost 30 years into democracy, South Africa still hasn’t ensured the jobs of senior public servants are not tied to the tenure of government ministers.Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733522021-12-23T11:31:41Z2021-12-23T11:31:41ZDiversity in the workplace must be matched with an atmosphere of genuine inclusion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438870/original/file-20211222-21-1m0yfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C67%2C4940%2C3196&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-business-people-walking-forward-210980503">Shutterstock/Rawpixel.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea that greater diversity in the workplace is good for business seems to be gaining ground. In a recent major step in December 2021, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bt-sets-out-new-diversity-targets-for-staff-numbers-9qwcns909">BT announced plans</a> for 25% of its workforce to be from “non-white backgrounds” by the end of the decade. </p>
<p>Yet taking steps to increase the representation of minority ethnic groups (and women) in areas of employment from which they have been <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/">historically excluded</a> is not without its committed critics. Objections are raised by those who believe such moves violate the logic of meritocracy – that roles should be won regardless of ethnicity or sex.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, supporters of active pro-diversity policies and affirmative action see such steps as a way of remedying decades of unfairness. </p>
<p>Either way, the economic case for increased diversity appears solid. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-business-case-for-equality-and-diversity-a-survey-of-the-academic-literature">Research shows</a> that it fosters innovation, promotes learning and improves customer reach. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters">influential report</a> by managing consultancy firm McKinsey found that companies in the top 25% for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their industry averages. Those in the bottom 25% were less likely to achieve above average returns, suggesting that diversity brings a clear competitive advantage. </p>
<p>Employees with diverse backgrounds and life experiences also foster innovation in business by offering unique insights the insider group misses. Timnit Gebru, for example, is a Stanford-educated former Google engineer and refugee, who became an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/google-timnit-gebru-ai-what-really-happened/">IT sensation</a> when she showed how algorithms can falsely predict higher re-offending rates for black people compared with white people. </p>
<p>Then there is the issue of increasing population diversity in countries like the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which businesses must engage with to survive. Given that net international migration is now <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Briefing-Immigration_Population_and_Ethnicity.pdf">the dominant element</a> in population change, it <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Briefing-Immigration_Population_and_Ethnicity.pdf">has been estimated</a> that the descendants of immigrants will comprise up to 40% of the population of around 12 western countries by the middle of this century. </p>
<p>Diversity is also important from an ethical point of view and may signal that a business <a href="https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/sipr.12059?saml_referrer">values morality</a>. </p>
<p>Given all these, organisations such as BT realise they could benefit from embracing diversity and helping groups that face a disadvantage in society. But that may be the easy bit. The tough part is making it work.</p>
<p>This is because diversity initiatives often originate in the belief that a true meritocracy can be achieved only by creating an environment in which everyone has the same chance of succeeding. Yet there is no blueprint for creating a true meritocracy. It may not even be possible. </p>
<p>As the philosopher Michael Sandel argues in his book <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313/313112/the-tyranny-of-merit/9780141991177.html">The Tyranny of Merit</a>, those who prevail in a competitive meritocracy are often the beneficiaries of long-standing inherited privilege that provides social and economic advantages. Undoing such a system is probably beyond the reach of even the most enlightened human resources department. </p>
<p>To further muddy the waters, there is also the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326528685_A_Framework_for_Understanding_the_Effects_of_Past_Experiences_on_Justice_Expectations_and_Perceptions_of_Human_Resource_Inclusion_Practices">complicated issue</a> of understanding how recipients of systemic injustice perceive fairness. </p>
<h2>Celebrating skills</h2>
<p>Various subtle – and not so subtle – barriers are deeply ingrained in many organisations. These may go largely unnoticed in policies and practices that continue to benefit employees from dominant social groups, making those from historically disadvantaged backgrounds feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21956">less valued</a>. </p>
<p>Even positive diversity interventions that may be necessary to boost equality can easily be subverted by a dominant majority who continue to argue the case for the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/095001701038064">“best candidate”</a> regardless of ethnicity or gender. It is therefore essential to consider how unspoken norms and patterns of discrimination may be <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-98917-4">deeply rooted in an organisation</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Symbolic image showing one human figurine ahead of the rest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438937/original/file-20211223-129369-bxbkee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Myth of meritocracy?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/leader-competition-breaks-ahead-wide-margin-1557566351">Shutterstock/Andrii Yalanskyi</a></span>
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<p>Some of these pitfalls can be addressed by focusing on what is known as a “positive inclusion climate”, which makes employees feel their social identities are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118764282.ch11">valued and celebrated</a> as a source of insight and skill. These kind of working conditions <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJIS-04-2020-0042/full/html">have been shown</a> to reduce levels of conflict and staff turnover. </p>
<p>Creating such a climate of genuine inclusion is the next step for companies like BT which have already recognised the commercial, social and ethical benefits of diversity. It won’t be easy, but executives and HR departments have a key role in championing and implementing such policies. </p>
<p>Their vision and commitment is vital in promoting an environment of respect, fairness, justice and equity. But organisations also need adequate systems and procedures to support inclusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marianna Fotaki does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Businesses need to do more than just focus on head count.Marianna Fotaki, Professor of Business Ethics, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1722752021-11-30T16:17:21Z2021-11-30T16:17:21ZIf CEOs want to promote diversity, they have to ‘walk the talk’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434065/original/file-20211126-13-yt44p7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6272%2C4065&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CEOs have to show they're serious about diversity for their human resources managers to do so. That could involve tying compensation to diversity targets.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the business world, the adage often holds true: the buck stops at the desk of the chief executive officer. That’s the way accountability should work.</p>
<p>But does the proverbial buck start there too? If CEOs set the course for corporate priorities, values and intentions, will the rest of the organization follow suit?</p>
<p>CEOs have powerful leverage to drive organizational change — if they choose to use it. On the issue of workplace diversity and inclusion, corporate leadership so far has been a mixed bag. Despite the right words and intentions, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-companies-show-little-progress-on-diversity-a-year-after-committing-to/">progress has been slow</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A little girl sits on her father's shoulders as they watch a sunset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434060/original/file-20211126-13-w10gxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research suggests CEOs who are fathers of daughters are more committed to diversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brittani Burns/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many CEOs seem to truly care about diversifying the makeup of their workforce, particularly those with daughters who, according to <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/11/ceos-with-daughters-run-more-socially-responsible-firms">one study</a>, tend to motivate their fathers to act in a socially responsible manner. </p>
<p>But even for those in front on the issue, it’s a challenge to convert good intentions to new realities in offices and on shop floors. Too often, responses are short term and reactive to explosive events rather than long term and systemic.</p>
<p>What explains this disconnect between words coming out of the C-suite and actions within organizations?</p>
<h2>Managers, not CEOs, oversee diversity</h2>
<p>In organizations, the people charged with implementing diversity, or any human resources policy, are managers, not senior executives. </p>
<p>Managers have a lot on their plates and considerable discretion on whether and how to implement organizational policies and practices. </p>
<p>They may hear their CEO say something positive about diversity and conclude that the CEO takes it seriously and that they must take it seriously as well. Or they may figure that the CEO is merely reading a script prepared by public relations teams and is going through the motions to please shareholders. </p>
<p>How managers assess their CEO’s true intentions are crucial to understanding whether an organization’s diversity agenda will be followed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-ceos-negotiate-better-severance-than-men-for-all-the-wrong-reasons-130971">Women CEOs negotiate better severance than men — for all the wrong reasons</a>
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<p>That is a key insight that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-4051-7">came out of a study</a> I conducted with Greg Sears from Carleton University. We looked at what CEOs say versus what they do. We surveyed their direct reports — vice-presidents and directors — and asked them to assess their CEOs’ commitment to diversity. </p>
<p>We were interested not in just what they heard but in what they observed in the CEOs’ actions. And then we studied the outcomes — the amount of diversity policies and practices being implemented.</p>
<h2>CEOs must show they’re serious</h2>
<p>We found that when HR managers perceived the CEO to be committed to diversity through visible actions, the organization reported more diversity initiatives. What the CEO says is important, but HR managers must perceive that the CEO is serious before they implement any of those policies. And CEOs must sustain that effort for HR managers to continue to be committed to diversity.</p>
<p>CEOs do not have to buy into the business value of workplace diversity to be effective leaders on this issue. Some are true believers and others aren’t. Or the organizations they lead may lack <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cjas.166">economic motives or public mandates</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three racialized young people laugh while looking at their laptops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434058/original/file-20211126-13-fqah3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some CEOs are true believers in building diverse workforces and some aren’t.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But for CEOs who don’t believe in the business case for diversity, our study found that if they have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1023085713600">strong moral values</a> — which can come from their religion, family or elsewhere — they are much more likely to display pro-diversity behaviour.</p>
<p>If this is so, the question then becomes: How do CEOs clearly signal they are serious about diversity and inclusion in a way that compels managers to actually follow through?</p>
<p>The most convincing way to catch people’s attention is to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000312240607100404?casa_token=pJaCmAUGvyYAAAAA:eUw3pgt3O0G33OI1rl6achznj57n_J4N3-NwSVZYRPqwvh1AkmIgduS0qjwp4AValhaSQ9dFvuV9-g">hold them accountable</a> by tying their job performance and compensation to diversity targets. Otherwise, advancing the diversity agenda is on a <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-fail">best-effort basis</a>.</p>
<p>An example of a supposed best-effort attempt is contained in the common argument we hear that “there are no qualified candidates in the pipeline.” Managers are quick to absolve themselves by insisting they advertised for diverse candidates or hired consulting firms to help but couldn’t find anyone. But when their year-end merit bonus is tied to diversity targets, managers expend the effort to make sure those targets are met.</p>
<h2>Linking diversity to compensation</h2>
<p>If it’s so effective to tie managers’ compensation to diversity-related goals, one wonders why corporate boards don’t do the same for CEO compensation. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/ceos-pledged-to-increase-diversity-now-boards-are-holding-them-to-it-11622626380">Some are starting</a> to do just that, but not many. </p>
<p>One reason may be the prevalence of <a href="https://insights.diligent.com/board-recruitment/interlocking-directorates-recruiting-board-members/">interlocking board membership</a>, in which board members are CEOs or senior executives of other corporations. It’s a clubby community, mostly made up of white men. They avoid tying compensation to diversity-related goals, because — guess what? — they are difficult to achieve.</p>
<p>Fortunately, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2870077">there are investors</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12517">legislative pressures</a> for greater diversity on corporate boards. As we gain a critical mass of racialized minorities, women and other groups under-represented in top governance bodies, there is hope that the situation will improve. </p>
<p>That critical mass is not just one or two lone voices, but requires at least <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090261608000168?via%3Dihub">three board members</a> from under-represented groups to see real and lasting change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A business man stands at a table in a meeting room talking to a woman and a Black man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C510%2C6515%2C4532&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434056/original/file-20211126-23-1eumc1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As racialized minorities, women and other under-represented groups are appointed to top governance bodies, there is hope that corporate diversity will improve.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Let’s be clear, though — even if a board partly ties CEO compensation to diversity targets, the CEO’s role in reaching those targets is as an initiator and a supporter, not as an implementer. The CEO’s priority is to walk the talk, to do what they can to convince those who carry out the diversity programs that they are serious — both today and tomorrow.</p>
<p>This shouldn’t be too much to ask. CEOs earn their executive position partly from their skills at persuasion. They should spread some of that pixie dust to enrich their organization’s workforce and the community in which it operates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eddy Ng receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>How human resources managers assess their CEO’s true intentions on diversity are crucial to understanding whether an organization’s diversity agenda will be followed.Eddy Ng, Smith Professor of Equity and Inclusion in Business, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1669762021-09-07T14:57:21Z2021-09-07T14:57:21ZRace and capitalism: no easy answers, but posturing will get South Africa nowhere<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419301/original/file-20210903-21-18havdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Looters make off with supplies during the unrest that hit parts of two provinces in South Africa in July. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Stringer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is likely that historians will conclude that there was no one reason why the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/investigations/anatomy-of-a-violent-july-data-mapping-shows-unrest-was-part-of-tactical-plan-to-shut-down-sa-20210806">recent riots and looting</a> of supermarkets, shops and warehouses in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, South Africa’s <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0441/GDP%202020%20Q4%20(Media%20presentation).pdf#page=47">two most economically important provinces</a>, caught up so many generally law-abiding citizens in their slipstream. There were seemingly <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-lies-behind-social-unrest-in-south-africa-and-what-might-be-done-about-it-166130">numerous dynamics at play</a>, from <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29614">the sheer poverty</a> of numerous black citizens through to the <a href="https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/six-suspected-instigators-violent-unrest-arrested">manipulations of social media</a> by supporters of former President Jacob Zuma, angered by his arrest.</p>
<p>However, one explanation which has been touted in various quarters has been that the upheaval was the outcome of <a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2021-08-28-racial-capitalism-destroys-ubuntu/">‘the racial capitalism’</a> to which South Africa has been subjected <a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2021-08-28-racial-capitalism-destroys-ubuntu/">over the centuries</a>. Such an explanation hearkens back to the racialised policies of the past, and how they twinned the <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/prisoners-of-the-past/">political ideologies of segregation and apartheid</a> promoted by South Africa’s white governments before democratic transition in 1994.</p>
<p>This view holds that the inequalities of the present, which continue to have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-corruption-in-south-africa-isnt-simply-about-zuma-and-the-guptas-113056">strong racial dimension</a>, along with the brutal treatment handed out to poor black people – for instance, by the police at <a href="https://theconversation.com/marikana-tragedy-must-be-understood-against-the-backdrop-of-structural-violence-in-south-africa-43868">Marikana in 2012</a>, in the North West Province, when police shot dead 35 protesting miners – are a product of the history of racial capitalism in South Africa.</p>
<p>It is difficult to disagree with the major thrust of much of the analysis which is put forward in this vein. It is widely accepted that the democratic transition in 1994 was the result of an ‘elite pact’ which transformed the country’s politics but did little to undermine the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-should-undo-mandelas-economic-deals-52767">foundations of white economic power</a>. </p>
<p>It is continuity as much as change which characterises the <a href="https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-south-africa/">post-apartheid political economy</a>. Nonetheless, South Africans need to take care in ascribing all the present crises to ‘racial capitalism’. Blaming racial capitalism for all the country’s ills can easily become a way of deflecting responsibility away from the country’s present politicians – and from South Africans themselves.</p>
<h2>The past as present</h2>
<p>Colonial conquest happened in tandem with the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40404472">development of capitalism</a>. Both projects requiring non-white people, notably Africans, to become instruments for the purposes of others. Africans were stripped of their land and their possessions and became the tools of their oppressors. This process was not stopped by the arrival of democracy.</p>
<p>When miners of Lonmin in Marikana, in the platinum-rich North West Province demanded a <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/2014-south-african-platinum-strike-longest-wage-strike-south-africa">reasonable increase in their wages</a>, the state colluded with foreign capital to crush their dissent. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview">Inequality</a> nurtures this objectification of humans, leading to greater exploitation of the poor, who are overwhelmingly black.</p>
<p>The problem with the solution that is often provided – that the entire system of ‘racial capitalism’ should be overthrown – is that it is so remarkably bland. So, it is worth attempting to deconstruct it.</p>
<h2>So, what is to be done?</h2>
<p>Is the implication that racism and capitalism are inseparable? If that is so, is the further implication that capitalism itself should be overthrown? Which is perhaps a very nice idea, but first, is this practical and likely? Who is to do the overthrowing? At what human and other cost (as its unlikely that capital and the state would give up without a fight)? And what would be put in capitalism’s place? Is this to be a new socialist order, and if so, will South Africa be following historical examples (which, on the whole, have not been very successful) or will it be charting its own way forward?</p>
<p>Or is the implication that capitalism can be deracialised? This is very much what, in theory, the African National Congress (ANC), which has governed the country since 1994, has set out to do through <a href="http://www.labour.gov.za/DocumentCenter/Acts/Employment%20Equity/Act%20-%20Employment%20Equity%201998.pdf">equity employment</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.za/faq/finance-business/where-do-i-find-information-broad-based-black-economic-empowerment-bee">black economic empowerment</a> legislation. Although the corporate profile, in terms of ownership and management personnel has registered not insignificant change, most would agree that the achievements of ANC policies have been <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/employment-and-labur-20th-commission-employment-equity-cee-annual-report-2019%E2%80%9320-19-aug">remarkably modest</a>.</p>
<p>However, it remains a matter of considerable debate whether this is because of corporate resistance, social factors (such as inadequate supplies of suitably trained black personnel) and or the incompetence of the state. </p>
<p>Leaving aside the entire question of whether a de-racialised capitalism would be less exploitative than a racialised one, and whether it would be less patriarchal, the more fundamental issue is how can South Africa achieve it if current strategies – which most would agree are well intentioned – are proving inadequate in realising their goals.</p>
<p>Should equity employment and black economic empowerment be ratcheted up, when the prevailing cry from the business establishment is that more regulation serves as <a href="https://www.biznews.com/sa-investing/2021/07/27/bee-sa-poverty">major barrier</a> to the inflow of much needed foreign investment? Will this increase or deter a rise in much needed employment? Or is it that current strategies should be re-engineered?</p>
<p>Often left out of such analysis is the question of what sort of state will be required to bring about the transformation to the more humane society South Africans are looking for. Present <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-1994-miracle-whats-left-159495">disillusion</a> with the post-1994 order highlights the limits of South Africa’s democracy, and the ways in which ANC dominance has eroded it.</p>
<p>Much attention lately has been focused on the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321223498_The_African_National_Congress_ANC_and_the_Cadre_Deployment_Policy_in_the_Postapartheid_South_Africa_A_Product_of_Democratic_Centralisation_or_a_Recipe_for_a_Constitutional_Crisis">ANC’s strategy of deployment</a>, how this has led to the substitution of political loyalty to the party for the capacity to do the job, how deployment has <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2021/05/its-da-versus-anc-over-cadre-deployment">led to corruption</a>, how it has <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/opinion/home-and-abroad/2021-08-04-justice-malala-how-the-ancs-cadre-deployment-ruined-sa/">destroyed state-owned corporations </a>, how it has undermined the efficiency of government, and how it has <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329309747_Cadre_Deployment_Policy_and_its_Effects_on_Performance_Management_in_South_African_Local_Government_A_Critical_Review">collapsed local government</a>.</p>
<p>The answer that is usually given is that it is necessary to <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/opinion/home-and-abroad/2021-08-04-justice-malala-how-the-ancs-cadre-deployment-ruined-sa/">undo the merger of party and state</a> and entrench the independence of the state to allow for expertise to flourish, and to ensure the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2020/2020-01/build-a-capable-state-dont-just-talk-about-it.html">rise of meritocracy</a>. But then we are left with the conundrum whether the ANC is capable of bringing such a transformation about, or whether the ANC itself needs to be removed from power. </p>
<p>That, in turn, demands not only that it must lose an election, but that it will gracefully concede its loss if it did so. Perhaps both dimensions of that last sentence are unlikely.</p>
<h2>No easy answers</h2>
<p>So where does all this lead South Africa? Quite frankly, I don’t know. But I do know that the answers to South Africa’s numerous problems are far from easy. This does not mean that South Africans cannot work their way to finding the solutions, and unless they are just going to give up, they have to believe that they can. But, it is going to be extremely hard work. South Africans will have to talk to, listen to, and bargain hard with each other to find their way.</p>
<p>But one thing South Africans must draw from such complexity is that any realistic and workable answers will not be arrived at by posturing. Alas, there are no easy answers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Southall has previously received funding from the National Research Foundation</span></em></p>The democratic transition in 1994 was the result of an ‘elite pact’ that changed the country’s politics, but did little to undermine the foundations of white economic power.Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1452022020-09-28T10:47:31Z2020-09-28T10:47:31ZHow high should taxes be? New study shows voters back lower rates only for income earned on merit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360278/original/file-20200928-14-17yl08f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C23%2C3053%2C2043&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-friends-glasses-champagne-on-yacht-398312638">Dasha Petrenko/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the US presidential election debates approach, how much to tax the rich will be one of many areas of disagreement between the two candidates. Donald Trump introduced sweeping tax cuts in 2018 that <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-no-biden-tax-hike-for-75k-i/fact-check-joe-biden-has-not-proposed-a-tax-hike-on-families-making-75000-a-year-idUSKCN25F1TN">included a tax reduction</a> for the wealthiest Americans. Meanwhile, Joe Biden has proposed tax increases for those earning <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-no-biden-tax-hike-for-75k-i/fact-check-joe-biden-has-not-proposed-a-tax-hike-on-families-making-75000-a-year-idUSKCN25F1TN">more than US$400,000</a>. </p>
<p>Now Trump’s own tax returns have become a focus of the election campaign after the New York Times reported he had paid <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html">only US$750 in federal income tax</a> in 2016, the year he was elected president. </p>
<p>Across the world, the level of tax for the rich remains a contentious political issue, key to debates about fairness, meritocracy and a just society. But what do voters think about how to tax the richest in society? My <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1065912920960232">new research</a> indicates that how a person got rich – and how much luck had to do with it – can influence how high voters think that tax levels should be. </p>
<h2>Remuneration rules</h2>
<p>Merit versus luck is one way to assess whether income inequalities are legitimate or not. <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/87664/1/87664.pdf">Luck egalitarians</a> argue it’s necessary to distinguish to which degree income inequalities derive from luck – such as by birth or random encounters – and which from merit, such as from risk taking or hard work. They argue that inequalities that come from luck should be corrected via redistribution, but accept any that come from merit should be left alone. </p>
<p>Easier said than done, perhaps. And these debates often forget that there are actually two very distinct stages in how income inequalities develop. First, someone makes an effort to deliver a performance. Let’s call this their contribution to society: the hours worked, their accuracy, their innovation on the job, and so on. </p>
<p>But second, it is the prevailing societal norms and practices – such as the cultures of esteem, remuneration, power and discrimination – that then translate people’s contributions to society into incomes. Let’s call these remuneration practices the societal reward rules. It’s these rules that very often operate in highly unequal or inequitable ways. </p>
<p>After all, there are persistent pay inequalities between, say, <a href="https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/media/_media/pdf/key_issues/gender_research.pdf">men and women</a> or different <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v84y2016icp57-75.html">ethnic groups</a> that do the same jobs within many professions. Across professions, top bankers or hedge fund managers tend to earn much more than, say, top surgeons or scientists. People often see these unequal reward rules as grossly unfair. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protester holding up sign that says 'tax the rich'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C47%2C4240%2C2947&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360009/original/file-20200925-20-pd7aui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When it comes to taxing the rich, where their money came from matters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-april-15-2017-people-621523082">Christopher Penler/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Set the tax rate: merit matters</h2>
<p>Together with Markus Tepe and Maximilian Lutz from the University of Oldenburg, I designed a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1065912920960232">new experimental study</a> with over 350 Germans to hone in on whether the way society translates effort into income affects voters’ reasoning about taxation. </p>
<p>In our study, all the participants had to perform the same task, but they were then remunerated in cash for their performance according to different reward rules. Some people were randomly rewarded unequally under the “luck” rule. Others were unequally rewarded based on their performance in a quiz about the White House that they could freely choose to prepare for – under the “merit” rule. This allowed us to instil an unusually clear-cut belief in the participants’ minds about whether reward rules which translated efforts into high earnings were down to luck or merit. </p>
<p>We then asked our subjects to become voters: they could vote on the specific tax rate for their own society. We found that knowing precisely how society rewards effort mattered a lot for how voters think about taxes. </p>
<p>Before the experiment started we had asked participants a standard political questionnaire to find out how left wing, centrist or right wing they were. Even left-wingers, it turned out, freely refrained from raising taxes for themselves and their fellow citizens if – but only if – they knew that high incomes were earned by real effort. Only when the societal reward rules were known to be based on luck were left-wingers and centrists in favour of higher taxes. </p>
<p>The most extreme left-winger would vote for a 65% tax for everyone in society under the luck rule, but only for a 42% tax under the merit rule. And for those who knew that the rewards were all based on merit, political ideology just made no difference at all: left-wingers then wanted the same tax level as right-wingers at around 42%. </p>
<h2>Only soak the lucky rich</h2>
<p>We did the experiment in different settings, with some groups aware that others were rewarded differently to them, and some groups unaware. We found that information on precisely how others obtained their incomes was really necessary for people to make a judgement about tax levels. Without such information, luck or merit just made no difference for anyone’s tax voting. </p>
<p>In other words, voters’ beliefs about precisely how income inequalities are generated within their society are absolutely key for whether or not higher taxes become politically popular. US Democrats and left-of-centre parties elsewhere should take note. Since their voter base may not be susceptible to blanket soak-the-rich ideas, leftwing politicians would be well advised to use merit to frame their tax proposals. For instance, they could more explicitly propose that lottery winners, rentiers and people inheriting large fortunes should be taxed much higher than, say, equally rich surgeons or self-made entrepreneurs who earned their wealth. </p>
<p>Conversely, voters really appear to buy into the idea that luck, but only luck, is an undeserved reason for riches. What is more: left wing and centrist voters may be willing to significantly redistribute luck-driven riches. </p>
<p>In the US as elsewhere, fuller transparency about the precise pathways of success might lead to still louder calls for tax justice and more urgent debates about whether society today rewards real contributions, or just brute luck.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pieter Vanhuysse MAE does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Knowing precisely how society rewards effort is key for how voters think about taxes. Only brute luck is seen as an undeserved reason for riches.Pieter Vanhuysse MAE, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Southern DenmarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1409542020-06-26T09:30:45Z2020-06-26T09:30:45ZWhy fairness matters more than equality – three ways to think philosophically about justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343535/original/file-20200623-188900-1f1jub7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C997%2C663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unrest in Chile in October 2019 over inequality of income, but some argue it was as much to do with fair opportunity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/santiago-de-chile-19102019-people-preparing-1536609440">abriendomundo/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a sermon in 1956, Martin Luther King distinguished negative peace (as the absence of tension) from positive peace (as the presence of justice). It is certainly plausible that a lasting peace would be of the positive kind. But when we reflect on what “justice” might mean, particularly economic justice (the justice of wealth and income), we notice an interesting dissonance between theory and practice. </p>
<p>In theory, the most influential concepts of justice are egalitarian, ones in which the concept of equality plays a central role. In practice, however, research shows that people are not so much concerned about equality, but about fairness. And while we often articulate fairness in terms of “just deserts”, the concept of this metaphorical desert has been consigned by most theorists <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300240334_The_Concept_of_Desert">to the philosophical scrap heap</a> for being difficult to measure exactly.</p>
<p>Recent research gives us some hope: there is a way to understand fairness, which may put us on a safer path towards positive peace.</p>
<h2>Inequality is fine for the lucky</h2>
<p>Let’s say you divide a cake for your birthday. Dividing it equally might be the fair distribution in this case, but often we end up with unequal, yet fair distributions (of cake or other goods). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343530/original/file-20200623-188931-snk80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Piece of cake? Anything but.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dark-chocolate-tort-perfectly-sliced-sharing-465392408">Marcin Jucha/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps the most influential contemporary theory of justice was by John Rawls. His <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rawls/#TwoPriJusFai">Egalitarian Principle</a> on regulating the distribution of wealth and income requires that we divide all goods in society equally, unless unequal distributions are to the benefit of the worst off. </p>
<p>We may disagree with this principle because we usually profit from many contingent factors. For instance, we may have been born with rare talents, within an affluent family, group or country.</p>
<p>As members of the worst-off group, however, we would find Rawls’s principle justified, as we would if we did not know where, when, and how we would be born. This shows why, in theory, egalitarianism is so attractive and influential.</p>
<h2>We do not value equality for its own sake</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0b362d6a-df2a-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc">A standard approach</a> to social, political and economic problems is to identify stark inequalities between individuals, groups and countries as the root cause. The solution is usually redistribution towards more egalitarian outcomes. Yet, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/people-dont-actually-want-equality/411784/">recent research</a> in philosophy, psychology and elsewhere questions the wisdom of such solutions. </p>
<p>First, is equality valued for its own sake? Consider a society in which everybody gets the same, but not enough. This will not be valued more than a society with huge disparities, where there is sufficient for all. Moreover, we usually <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170706-theres-a-problem-with-the-way-we-define-inequality">react to being unfairly disadvantaged</a>, rather than simply to not getting the same. Hence, restricting distribution to equal shares or conditioning unequal shares on being to the worst-off’s benefit, irrespective of how hard we each work, does not seem just.</p>
<p>Interestingly, <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid/publications/fellow-graduate-student-working-papers/social-mobility-populism">more recent research</a> draws a link between populist voting patterns in elections (in the US in 2016, and in France and the EU in 2019) and economic unfairness measured in terms of low social mobility. People are taking to the streets, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7a448a34-f588-11e9-b018-3ef8794b17c6">as two economists wrote</a>, not because they have less than others, but rather because they want fair opportunity. If distributive justice is a combination of equal opportunities and fair reward for talent and effort, then outcomes are likely to be unequal.</p>
<p>This isn’t a new conception of fair economic distribution, although it seems to have enjoyed more <a href="https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/justice-and-the-meritocratic-state/">positive reconsideration</a> recently. What this conception advocates instead is meritocracy. </p>
<p>Meritocracy was coined in 1958 by Michael Young, a member of the UK Labour Party and director of the party’s research office. In a meritocratic society social status is determined by “merit”, acquired through a combination of intelligence and effort leading to various significant social contributions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343540/original/file-20200623-188916-13lkqei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meritocracy – fair opportunity but unfair disadvantage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/job-initiative-promotion-proactive-staff-concept-687448615">Kentoh/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet, Young was <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/02/10/the-merits-of-revisiting-michael-young">critical of meritocracy</a>, viewing it as a political system with low social mobility. What made it worse, he thought, was that it also gave the impression of fairness.</p>
<h2>The fairness of distribution using just deserts</h2>
<p>If what we want are fair opportunities without unfair disadvantage, then meritocracy cannot be the answer. <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-meritocracy-more-than-being-a-member-of-the-lucky-sperm-club">Intelligence is at least to a significant extent hereditary</a>. The ability to work hard is partly hereditary and the result of specific parental and social expectations. </p>
<p>Hence, the same groups of people will always end up at the top of the social ladder. This can hardly be just. Those at the bottom seem to be unfairly disadvantaged. It is interesting to see that the question often raised about the justice of various aspects of society is formulated in terms of what is “deserved”. </p>
<p>For example, we can criticise meritocracy and try to identify instead <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/oct/19/the-myth-of-meritocracy-who-really-gets-what-they-deserve">who really gets what they deserve</a>. We could think a particular arrangement is fair (frontline NHS staff getting a bonus, for example), since <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-nhs-workers-bonus-staff-pay-health-care-lib-dems-a9472286.html">it is deserved</a>. </p>
<p>This need not refer only to fair distribution. An unfair decision in the courts is often challenged with the assertion that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/12/windrush-generation-justioce">the victims have not had their just deserts</a>.</p>
<p>We continue to use “desert” as a meaningful and powerful concept despite one of the most important British political scientists of the 20th century, Brian Barry, predicting in the 60s that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444367072.wbiee720">the concept would disappear</a>. When, in 1971, Rawls formulated his famous anti-desert egalitarian theory, it seemed to confirm Barry’s prediction.</p>
<p>The problem with a theory of distribution centred on the notion of desert is knowing exactly who deserves what – what is the result of responsible actions, attributable to us rather than to natural endowments and social circumstances. It may seem impossible to separate our just deserts from our unfair advantages or disadvantages.</p>
<p>But there is one way in which it might make more sense. This was suggested by John Roemer’s <a href="https://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/pub/d19/d1921.pdf">work on fair opportunities</a> and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/utilitas/article/epistemological-argument-against-desert/120FEBF7FBB0B9C40612C3FD20B3982C">applied</a> to the question of how to ascertain desert. </p>
<p>Say, for one kind of achievement, the most relevant factors affecting performance are quality of education and IQ. We can then group together those who are affected by the same factors. For instance, one group will be of those with a better education, but lower IQ.</p>
<p>We can then determine relative desert by evaluating performance within each of the four groups. Comparisons across groups will tell us who are the most deserving. A person in the group of the better educated with high IQ may perform better than a person in some other group. But if the latter ranks in a higher percentile than the former’s, then we conclude she is more deserving.</p>
<h2>Some goods should be distributed this way</h2>
<p>To ascertain just deserts in this way, we need to rely on good empirical theories that identify the most relevant factors affecting performance. Depending on how advanced such theories are, we may end up with inaccurate conclusions. </p>
<p>There are goods which may fundamentally affect a person’s life (for instance, healthcare resources). We will want to avoid getting their distribution wrong. So we will allocate them on the basis of need. </p>
<p>Even if we could ascertain a person’s deserts accurately, there are still instances where this type of distribution seems undesirable. Consider hiring processes. We should aim to appoint the best neurosurgeon, even if they cannot take credit completely for their talent and effort. </p>
<p>Healthcare services and good education are essential for equal opportunity. They should be among the goods provided universally. Yet, ignoring desert for all goods disconnects completely distributive shares from what we do responsibly. We should then distribute at least some significant goods (say, bonuses) entirely on the basis of just deserts. This would be one good mechanism for increasing social mobility. </p>
<p>Fairness matters: systematic unfair discrimination increases conflict and tension in societies and international community. Fairness is importantly linked to responsibility and accountability. So a theory of distributive justice sensitive to desert is the way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sorin Baiasu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We all think we want equality, but in reality it’s often fairness that is more important to us.Sorin Baiasu, Professor of Philosophy, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1327302020-04-29T18:29:11Z2020-04-29T18:29:11ZBrazilian mystics say they’re sent by aliens to ‘jump-start human evolution’ – but their vision for a more just society is not totally crazy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330819/original/file-20200427-145536-1namrs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=95%2C6%2C4077%2C2669&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Valley of the Dawn members celebrate 'Day of the Indoctrinator' at their temple complex in Brazil on May 1. This year's event is postponed due to coronavirus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Márcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every May 1, before sunrise, several thousand members of the religion known as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/may/03/the-vale-do-amanhecer-religious-community-in-brazil-in-pictures">Valley of the Dawn</a> gather in silence at a temple outside the Brazilian capital of Brasília. They come from around the world to “synchronize their spiritual energies.”</p>
<p>As the Sun’s first rays appear over the horizon, the members, in fairy-tale-like <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/e2r3nwe6evirgjl/ElaborateRitualAttire_PhotoCredit_M%C3%A1rciaAlves.JPG?dl=0">garments</a>, chant their personal “emissions” – a ritual invocation of cosmic forces that fills the air with a collective drone. </p>
<p>Valley of the Dawn adherents “manipulate” cosmic energies to heal themselves and others. They describe themselves as members of a spiritual tribe called the Jaguars, who are the reincarnated descendants of highly advanced extraterrestrials sent by God some 32,000 years ago to jump-start human evolution.</p>
<p>Normally, the May 1 <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/05/photos-worshipers-valley-of-the-dawn/588475/">Day of the Indoctrinator</a> ceremony attracts Jaguars from across the globe, as well as spectators and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/may/03/the-vale-do-amanhecer-religious-community-in-brazil-in-pictures">journalists</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3543%2C2354&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330817/original/file-20200427-145525-1rgw7ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Day of the Indoctrinator, 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Márcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2020, the ceremony was postponed because of the coronavirus – dismaying Valley of the Dawn members, who believe their spiritual force field could really help in this global crisis.</p>
<p>The Valley of the Dawn’s beliefs are <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/brazils-sunrise-valley-honors-mediums-labor-day-170448626--spt.html">fantastical</a>, but their practices may be less otherworldly <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2018/09/religion-psychic-medium-extraterrestrial-sunrise-dawn-valley-brasilia-brazil/">than bemused journalists have often suggested</a>. My <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=z1eWiyoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F5SXVosCqNZCg1L7c89uUF1gz96jLMiJbO_QEvNqTs_VWbYXm2nXRtb1cko2iUVzEJv7ByI6GjeLp9JJooKJmYh6mhAe-nSndcCor_UuPHzXxAJHPc">scholarship on Brazilian religions and research at the Valley of the Dawn</a> finds that some of the group’s rituals speak directly to the harsh realities of the modern world. </p>
<h2>Jaguars past and present</h2>
<p>Valley of the Dawn, called Vale do Amanhecer in Portuguese, is a <a href="https://www.agenciabrasilia.df.gov.br/2013/12/06/vale-do-amanhecer-simbolo-do-sincretismo-religioso-atrai-milhares-de-visitantes/">recognized religion in Brazil</a>. It has over 700 affiliated temples worldwide and nearly <a href="https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/PieriniJaguars">139,000 registered members</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328787/original/file-20200417-152607-49v3rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aunt Neiva.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vale Do Amanhecer Archive</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to Valley of the Dawn <a href="https://nr.ucpress.edu/content/16/4/63">doctrine</a>, the Jaguars inspired some of humanity’s greatest achievements, including the great pyramids of ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, before eventually straying from their mission. </p>
<p>Their spiritual tribe was reunited in Brazil in 1964 by a woman called Aunt Neiva, who foresaw the world as we know it ending within decades. </p>
<p>My research indicates that Valley of the Dawn members are mostly middle- and working-class Brazilians, of all races. Many live in the town that has grown up around the Mother Temple; others travel there for ceremonies. </p>
<p>To redeem the bad karma they believe they have accrued over the millennia, Valley of the Dawn members perform spirit-healing rituals called “trabalhos,” or works. These are offered to the public at the Mother Temple nearly <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2016/10/08/valley-of-the-dawn/">24 hours a day, 365 days a year</a>.</p>
<p>In Brazil, which has hundreds of spirit-based religions, such <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315419855">healing is widely accepted</a>. </p>
<p>According to anthropologist Emily Pierini, who has studied <a href="https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/PieriniJaguars">spirit healing at the Valley of the Dawn</a>, thousands of Brazilians suffering from health problems, mental illness, grief or addiction visit the Valley of the Dawn each month to <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2016/10/08/valley-of-the-dawn/">remove negative spiritual influences and channel healing forces</a>. Most patients have had unsuccessful experiences with both Western medicine and other religions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330795/original/file-20200427-145513-iib51e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A healing ritual at the Valley of the Dawn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Márcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Meaningful work and education</h2>
<p>The Valley of the Dawn has grown steadily since the founder’s death in 1985, spreading from Brazil to Portugal, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004246034_014">United States</a> and England. </p>
<p>Outsiders often dismiss the Valley as a cult. A BBC journalist who visited the community in 2012 called it a “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/fast_track/9762166.stm">refuge for lost souls</a>.”</p>
<p>But <a href="https://iupui.academia.edu/kellyhayes">my research</a> offers an alternative explanation of why some people might find the Valley of the Dawn appealing: It offers a more progressive, egalitarian version of modernity. </p>
<p>Brazil, with its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35810578">corruption scandals</a> and savage <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35810578">social inequalities</a>, has not always lived up to the motto “order and progress” as inscribed on its national flag. It is not alone. Across much of the West, the promise that modernity would bring <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/modernity-understanding-the-present/oclc/754168298">higher living standards, greater personal freedoms and a more just society</a> remains largely unfulfilled. </p>
<p>Instead, the 21st century has created <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/almost-half-of-americans-work-in-low-wage-jobs/ar-BBXF7sF">low-wage</a> jobs with little security and <a href="https://espas.secure.europarl.europa.eu/orbis/sites/default/files/generated/document/en/0115391e.pdf">government institutions</a> that too frequently benefit the richest and most powerful. Individualism has supplanted community, leaving people increasingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/materialism-system-eats-us-from-inside-out">isolated and lonely</a> – and that was before coronavirus and social distancing. </p>
<p>The Valley of the Dawn, in contrast, offers a collective life that members find gratifying.</p>
<p>“By living out the doctrine, you see what you can improve in your life and how you can repair the errors of the past,” a member named Ilza told me. “You see the results of your dedication.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330815/original/file-20200427-145499-1u7t5va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prayer at Mother Temple.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Márcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rejecting capitalist values, Valley of the Dawn members refuse to work for money. Healing “trabalhos” are offered freely as an expression of unconditional love. </p>
<p>In Brazil, where <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/503611468769540767/Higher-education-in-Brazil-challenges-and-options">poverty prevents many from completing their education</a>, the Valley of the Dawn has its own education system premised on merit, not privilege. </p>
<p>It offers free “courses” on personal development, moral conduct and mediumship taught by trained instructors. Educational advancement earns members a title, like “Master” or “Commander,” and the right to wear specific clothing, participate in new rituals and take on leadership duties. </p>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p>Justice in the Valley of the Dawn likewise offers a progressive alternative to contemporary <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-war-on-drugs-fuels-deadly-prison-riots-in-brazil-67337">criminal justice systems</a> that emphasize <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-mass-incarceration-problem-in-5-charts-or-why-sessions-shouldnt-bring-back-mandatory-minimums-78019">punishment and incarceration</a>. In the Valley of the Dawn, justice means reconciliation for past harms – not retribution.</p>
<p>According to Valley of the Dawn doctrine, much human suffering and wrongdoing is the work of spirits called “cobradores,” or debt collectors. A cobrador is the spirit of a person – usually a family member or friend – who was harmed by a Jaguar in a past life. </p>
<p>When the spirit attaches itself to its living “debtor” – causing depression, for example, or aggression – the afflicted Jaguar spend a week gathering signatures from fellow Valley members who wish them positive energy to pay off their spiritual debt. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330812/original/file-20200427-145536-1ud1a4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A prisoner collecting signatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Márcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The week-long prison ritual – conducted in a colorful dress or, for men, black shirt with a leather sash – culminates in a courtroom “trial.” There the cobrador, channeled by a fellow Jaguar, explains the wrongdoing that caused the karmic debt. After the prisoner expresses regret, balance is restored.</p>
<p>“He forgives me, I forgive him, he leaves and I am released,” as a Jaguar named Master Itamir explained. </p>
<h2>Fantastical solutions to real problems</h2>
<p>I find no evidence, by the way, that this New Age group has an unsavory underbelly, or that its leaders are exploiting members. People are free to join or leave the Valley of the Dawn at any time. For Jaguars who cannot afford training, the community provides food and housing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328788/original/file-20200417-152602-7ik2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jaguars celebrate the Day of the Indoctrinator, May 1, 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marcia Alves</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My research indicates members find real meaning in the Valley of the Dawn’s egalitarian work, education and legal systems, all structured on the principles of equality and justice. </p>
<p>In that sense, despite their mystical nature, the social practices of the Valley of the Dawn aren’t alien at all: They are a reaction to the very real deficiencies of modern secular society – with some flamboyant costuming on the side. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132730/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly E Hayes received funding from the Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program in 2012. </span></em></p>Brazil’s Valley of the Dawn faith is often dismissed as a cult. But many of the group’s fantastical rituals are a recognizable reaction to this harsh world of inequality, loneliness and pandemics.Kelly E. Hayes, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1294652020-01-09T17:07:58Z2020-01-09T17:07:58ZStudent success is about more than hard work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309078/original/file-20200108-107243-ncyxf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Entering university from a middle-class family is easier.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is that time of year again when South Africans celebrate National Senior Certificate results, ushering a generation of youth out of the school system and into the world. Of the <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2020-01-08-matric-class-hits-80-pass-mark-for-the-first-time">788,717</a> who successfully completed these exams, 186,058 achieved passes that potentially open the doors of university study. </p>
<p>As we read about the results, we take delight in the success stories, like the student from a poorer background scoring multiple distinctions despite having no properly qualified maths or science teacher. Or the rural student who earned a university entrance despite walking long distances to school each day. These achievements <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/matric-pass-rate-a-poor-indicator--ee">should be celebrated</a>, as they are truly exceptional. </p>
<p>But the problem with these stories, uplifting as they may be, is that they often carry a subtext. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If he can do it, why can’t <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/363480/4-tables-and-graphs-you-should-see-ahead-of-south-africas-matric-results/">the rest of them</a>?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The presumption that hard work alone leads to success – and that laziness leads to failure – follows the student into the university. Here, despite a wealth of careful research that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2011.527723">proclaims otherwise</a>, most people believe that success emerges from the intelligence and work ethic of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Theorizing-Social-Class-and-Education-1st-Edition/Reay-Vincent/p/book/9780415842297">the individual</a>.</p>
<p>In a recent journal article, we have <a href="http://cristal.epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/184">argued</a> that academics often ignore the research on student failure that shows it emerges from a number of factors. Many of these factors are beyond the attributes inherent in the student. Instead, most hold on to the simplistic common sense assumption that success comes to those who deserve it. Academics who hold this view are prone to assume that students are successful because of what an individual student does or does not do. </p>
<p>But the reality is a far more complex interplay of individual attributes with social structures which unfairly affect some more than others. </p>
<h2>The lure of meritocratic explanations</h2>
<p>There is a widely held view that education is a <a href="http://cristal.epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/80">meritocracy</a>, where success is determined by the merit of the individual. The term was coined in British sociologist Michael Young’s 1958 book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Meritocracy-Classics-Organization-Management/dp/1560007044">The Rise of the Meritocracy</a>. In it, he described a dystopian society stratified by educational level and intelligence. The term has been appropriated to suggest that those who do well at university do so on the basis of personal effort and acumen rather than as a result of their privileged background.</p>
<p>University academics have <a href="https://www.africanminds.co.za/dd-product/going-to-university-the-influence-of-higher-education-on-the-lives-of-young-south-africans/">access to research</a> looking at the complex mechanisms of higher education. Despite this, many are likely to believe that the university <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-class-and-social-capital-affect-university-students-92602">is a meritocracy</a>. Believing that students succeed or fail on their own merits sits more comfortably than scrutinising the role universities play in reinforcing divisions in society.</p>
<p>In every country around the world, higher education success most strongly correlates to <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137534804">social class</a>. Parental education levels, wealth, social influence and status are the strongest indicator of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/212017/the-tyranny-of-the-meritocracy-by-lani-guinier/">university success</a>. But class does not work in isolation from other forces. </p>
<p>Social class intersects in varying ways with race, gender, language, and so on. In some countries, for example, race is used as a means of dividing society and assigning social class. In many countries, gender too plays a role in who gets access to the powerful knowledge offered by the academy. All of these factors and more have a role to play. But it is social class that most consistently tracks <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/46608">higher education success</a> across geographical contexts.</p>
<p>If you did well at university, chances are that you worked hard and you’re bright. But those two characteristics probably account for a much smaller part of your success than most of us would care to admit.</p>
<h2>What class privilege looks like</h2>
<p>Entering university from a middle-class family doesn’t only confer financial, health, educational, emotional and nutritional benefits. It also provides less visible privileges. A middle-class student probably had role models like relatives who went to university, possibly even the same university, who could explain the university system. It’s likely that they took part in everyday conversations about professional identities, and they could probably draw on social networks to assist them in adapting to university life and then entering the workplace.</p>
<p>The late French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?vid=ISBN0803983204&id=vl0n9_wrrbUC&dq=%22Reproduction+in+Education%22">argued</a> that underprivileged students fail not because they are less intelligent than middle-class students but because the curriculum is biased towards what middle-class students are already accustomed to. It is this that reinforces the relationship between social class and success in higher education around the world.</p>
<p>Many of the privileges that middle-class students enjoy are so arcane as to be invisible, even to themselves. These students often bring with them a sense that their role at university is to engage not just with facts but with the disciplinary rules for how knowledge gets made. Typically they are willing to challenge what is presented to them and to seek flaws in the evidence provided in the texts they encounter. They also have a stronger confidence in their right to be there and to participate fully. These, and many other ways, aid middle-class students to enter the academy primed for success.</p>
<h2>What needs to happen?</h2>
<p>Academics who are committed to social justice often have to grapple with the fact that the university does not reward students on the basis of merit so much as on privilege. This calls for teaching in ways that constantly seek to make the expectations of the classroom transparent and the disciplinary norms and values explicit. </p>
<p>Teachers need to make these practices clear to students and, in the process, harness <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2011.582096">students’ agency</a> to craft their own place in the world and their own contribution to knowledge. Regular feedback on student work, for example, allows students to begin to see what counts as knowledge in the particular discipline.</p>
<p>It is also important to expose academic practices to scrutiny. Increasingly the academy is being challenged to consider forms of knowledge long omitted by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-cant-decolonise-the-curriculum-without-defining-it-first-63948">colonial order</a>. </p>
<p>The university promises society that it will produce both powerful knowledge and competent graduates adept at using such knowledge to tackle societal and environmental problems. But not all university practices are inherently powerful and much powerful knowledge remains outside its walls.</p>
<p>If some students enter the university with easier access to the practices needed for success, nobody can pretend that institutions are a meritocracy rewarding attributes inherent in <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-cant-just-wash-their-hands-of-student-failure-40664">the individual</a>. Understanding the complex relationship between social class and educational success requires that educators reconsider almost all aspects of their teaching.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simpiwe Sobuwa is the Vice-Chariperson of the Professional Board for Emergency Care and a Council Member of the Health Professions Council of South Africa. I however write this article in my academic capacity.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sioux McKenna does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many of the privileges that middle-class students enjoy are not obvious, even to themselves.Sioux McKenna, Director of Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes UniversitySimpiwe Sobuwa, Head of Department: Emergency Medical Care & Rescue, Durban University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1238582019-09-22T20:16:06Z2019-09-22T20:16:06ZFairest and best? Status counts in the Brownlow Medal<p>Tonight is the AFL’s annual night of nights, the red-carpet spectacular known as the Brownlow Medal vote count.</p>
<p>The Brownlow is awarded to the season’s “fairest and best” player. But is the way the medal gets decided really the fairest? </p>
<p>Research I’ve done with <a href="https://www.lborolondon.ac.uk/about/staff/aaron-smith/">Aaron Smith</a> of Loughborough University suggests footballers don’t compete for the Brownlow on a perfectly level playing field. There’s a slight bias towards team leaders.</p>
<p>As a sports economist, I’m fascinated by what the Brownlow Medal count can tell us about the science of evaluating performance in any organisation. In any job, all other things being equal, a performance appraisal may be better (all else equal) once you have worked your way up the corporate ladder. In a perfect meritocracy this would not be the case.</p>
<h2>Evaluation bias</h2>
<p>Aaron and I have long been interested in the extent to which people in leadership positions receive undeservedly high performance evaluations just because of the managerial networks that arise from the status those positions provide.</p>
<p>Generally we think this occurs because of inevitable human-relationship factors. The more interesting question is whether it happens in cases where the evaluation process is entrusted to external agents (such as HR consultants) supposedly independent of such influences.</p>
<p>This is a difficult question to investigate. Business organisations are not inclined to hand over employee evaluation data to pesky academics. The Brownlow offers a rare analogous opportunity to analyse empirical data. </p>
<p>Brownlow Medal votes are allocated by field umpires (who are, of course, similarly “external” to the competing firms). After each game of the regular season they confer and nominate the three top players. The best player gets three votes, the second two and the third one. This is actually a very rare case within the pantheon of global best-player awards in major sporting leagues where umpires cast the votes. </p>
<p>And come medal count night, the votes are in the public domain.</p>
<p>The data goes back to 1984 (before that, votes were not recorded to the match in which they were cast), and is available on the <a href="https://afltables.com/afl/brownlow/brownlow_idx.html">AFL Tables website</a>. We have used different statistical tools to analyse the data, as well as a comprehensive database of match statistics for about 100,000 player-within-match records from all 2,254 home-and-away AFL matches played from seasons 2006 to 2017. These statistics cover the number of goals, kicks, handballs, tackles and so on by each player.</p>
<h2>Significant statistics</h2>
<p>Testing for bias towards team leaders has an intuitive underlying justification. Umpires have more contact with captains, such as through the pre-match coin toss. This may unconsciously influence umpires’ perceptions.</p>
<p>The raw data did tell us captains earn, on average, a lot more more Brownlow votes. But this alone does not imply a voting bias. Other factors must be considered. For one thing, captains are likely to be credentialed and talented players. That’s why they’re captains.</p>
<p>We sought to take this into account by figuring into our model a large range of player statistics indicating individual performance within each match. </p>
<p>Our results show that, when controlling for player performance, team captains poll between 1.3% and 2.1% more votes than all other players. There is a strong statistical significance here. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mind-your-confidence-interval-how-statistics-skew-research-results-3186">Mind your confidence interval: how statistics skew research results</a>
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<p>The effect for vice-captains was smaller, from 0.6% to 1.5%. There was no significant vote boost for acting captains who normally have no leadership position.</p>
<h2>Mitigating factors</h2>
<p>In explaining the results, we cannot rule out possible actions not captured within our statistics at which captains have excelled and that have been noticed by umpires. </p>
<p>It may be, for example, that captains have kicked a crucial goal with a higher than average degree of difficulty or made a decisive tackle that has helped turn a game. Statistics alone don’t tell the whole story. Identical player data doesn’t necessarily have the same vote “impact”.</p>
<p>But based my own experience as a former umpire for 15 years (at suburban level for Melbourne’s <a href="https://nfnl.org.au/">Northern League</a>), I am convinced captaincy status does really matter in junior games when the umpires are often not previously familiar with any of the players.</p>
<p>In previous research I’ve identified similarly significant umpire biases when choosing “fairest and best” players, such as in favour of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00036846.2016.1267848">Indigenous players</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999318306230">those playing milestone matches</a>.</p>
<h2>Field of favourites</h2>
<p>But it’s a game of percentages. No captain has won the Brownlow since Carlton’s Chris Judd in 2010. Essendon captain Jobe Watson did poll the most votes in 2012, but he was later stripped of the award due to the club’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/essendon-scandal-a-symptom-of-australias-sporting-woes-12085">doping scandal</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-japanese-art-of-kintsugi-and-how-it-can-help-with-defeat-in-sport-104256">The Japanese art of kintsugi and how it can help with defeat in sport</a>
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<p>So I am noncommittal about tonight’s Brownlow Medal outcome, though our research does seem especially relevant given the favourites this year.</p>
<p>Most obviously there is Carlton’s Patrick Cripps, recently awarded the Leigh Matthews Trophy given by the AFL Players Association to the league’s “most valuable player”. Cripps also became Carlton co-captain this year.</p>
<p>Also among the bookies’ favourites (though at longer odds) are Fremantle captain Nathan Fyfe and Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Lenten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Team captains have a slight statistical advantage in being judged best on ground, says sports economist Liam Lenten.Liam Lenten, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Finance, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1121972019-04-02T11:03:50Z2019-04-02T11:03:50ZPaid work experience and ‘sandwich degrees’ help boost social mobility – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266789/original/file-20190401-177193-1pe3rxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's not a level playing field.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/business-competition-concept-flat-style-334893695">Sira Anamwong / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The upper echelons of British society are filled with graduates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/20/oxford-cambridge-race-class-and-oxbridge-stranglehold-on-british-society">from elite universities</a>. These universities are, in turn, disproportionately full of students from wealthier backgrounds, many of whom <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-britains-private-schools-are-such-a-social-problem-111369">went to private school</a>. For these graduates, their top education and superior knowledge of the “rules of the game” regarding how institutions work gains them entry-level graduate jobs in elite professional firms. </p>
<p>It may seem that Britain has progressed little in the 130 years since Lord Fermor <a href="https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/113/the-picture-of-dorian-gray/1939/chapter-3/">reflected</a> in The Picture of Dorian Gray that “if a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him”. Indeed, if you’re from a working class background the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-britains-class-system-will-have-to-change-58188">odds are stacked against you</a> if you want to make it into an elite profession. Going to university on its own does not guarantee a top professional job at the end of it. </p>
<p>This is a complex problem and there is considerable debate over how to improve social mobility. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1476482">new research paper</a> shows the importance of work experience. Specifically, year-long placements in industry as part of a degree programme can effectively help working class students secure entry to top professional firms. This is significant considering the fact that social mobility into high-quality, high-status and high-reward professions like accountancy and financial services <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61090/IR_FairAccess_acc2.pdf">has slowed down in recent decades</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/14346/">Research shows</a> that upper-middle-class students are more likely to take internships at university due to family social connections and greater financial resources. By looking at year-long paid internships, the so-called “sandwich placements” in some student degree programmes, we wanted to see how level the playing field really was for working class students. </p>
<p>We found that working class students were actually judged purely on their academic merits. In a victory for meritocracy, the sandwich placements overwhelmingly went to the brightest students from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. There was also evidence that these kinds of placements, which are also well-paid, can facilitate the social mobility of academically driven students who aspire to work for these kinds of companies. </p>
<h2>Foot in the door</h2>
<p>This is significant because these were sandwich placements in accountancy, a top profession which has suffered the greatest decline in social mobility <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/78f85720-ddaa-11e7-8f9f-de1c2175f5ce">over the past 30 years</a>. Social exclusion in elite accountancy and investment banking firms <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13614/">is</a> <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/AAAJ-10-2012-1133?fullSc=1">evident</a> in the recruitment process for professionals at graduate entry level. </p>
<p>A 2017 <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/AAAJ-10-2012-1133?fullSc=1">study</a> by Angus Duff, a professor at the University of the West of Scotland, revealed that unpaid work experience in accounting firms is used to maintain the status quo. Internships are often given to children of senior partners and important clients. As Duff notes, this is a recruitment process that is clearly “removed from notions of inclusivity and social equality”. This gives young people from privileged backgrounds an important foot in the door, which can often lead to jobs in the future.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children of partners and clients often have an unfair advantage at getting work experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-son-businessmen-wearing-eyeglasses-reading-1085240033">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The students in our study all attended the same, well-regarded university. Offering lessons for social mobility, this shows the importance of working class students applying to good universities if they wish to improve their chances to work for, and succeed in, elite professions. This is, of course, an initial important barrier to overcome. </p>
<p>Once at university, it’s then important for working class students to get top grades, as elite professions offered their yearlong paid placements to the best performers. This may involve a degree of self-awareness, identifying what they are best at and strategically choosing modules and courses to improve their averages or grades. </p>
<p>Finally, working class students must actively participate in the placement application process and improve their interview skills to succeed. It takes a long time to write professional CVs, fill in the application forms and conduct mock interviews with recruiters from elite professional firms. </p>
<p>Universities usually have dedicated staff to help students through the whole process but working class students must actively seek out and engage with this help as it can pay high dividends. The flip side to this is that working class students are often more shy and less likely to seek help from advisers and the university in general, compared with their upper-middle-class counterparts. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, our study shows that while the barriers to social mobility in elite professions have become greater in recent years, they are not insurmountable. The year-long paid placement is one way that working class young people can breach the barricades against social mobility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a victory for meritocracy, sandwich placements overwhelmingly go to the brightest students, irrespective of their background.Ian Crawford, Senior Teaching Fellow, School of Management, University of BathZhiqi Wang, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance. School of Society, Enterprise and Environment, Bath Spa UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1130982019-03-26T10:37:54Z2019-03-26T10:37:54ZDynasties still run the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265365/original/file-20190322-36252-1jpexuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Worldwide, 1 in 10 presidents and prime ministers has relatives who were already in politics. Europe and Latin America, both democratic regions, have the highest proportion of leaders who come from political families.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/three-characters-crowns-royal-ermine-mantles-1202595091">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Want to get into politics? It helps if you come from the right family.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/37977325/Blood_is_Thicker_than_Water_Family_Ties_to_Political_Power_Worldwide">Our study</a>, published in the journal <a href="https://www.jstor.org/journal/histsocres">Historical Social Research</a> in December 2018, shows that, on average, one in 10 world leaders comes from households with political ties. </p>
<p>We examined the backgrounds of 1,029 political executives – that is, presidents and prime ministers – in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America from 2000 to 2017. We found that 119, or 12 percent, of all world leaders <a href="https://www.gesis.org/hsr/abstr/43-4/03jalalzai-rincker/">belonged to a political family</a>. </p>
<p>Our study defined “political family” as having either a blood or marital tie to someone already involved in politics, whether as a judge, party official, bureaucrat, lawmaker, president or activist. </p>
<p>Notable examples include former U.S. President <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-12846098">George W. Bush</a>, Canadian Prime Minister <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/ywj3kg/a-canadian-political-dynasty-emerges-as-justin-trudeau-ascends-to-power">Justin Trudeau</a> and the former Argentine President <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/07/ignore-the-press-cristina-kirchner-isn-t-argentina-s-hillary.html">Cristina Fernández de Kirchner</a>.</p>
<h2>Family connections matter worldwide</h2>
<p>Family political connections mattered in all the regions we studied, in monarchies and democracies, and in rich countries and poor ones. </p>
<p>Power is by nature inherited in monarchies. But even in democracies – where citizens may choose their leaders in <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/methodology-freedom-world-2019">free and fair elections</a> – belonging to a political family is a meaningful advantage. It gives candidates name recognition, some political experience and better access to allies and resources when running for office.</p>
<p>Bush and Trudeau, for example, were democratically elected executives who also had direct ties to that office, given that their fathers had previously served in the same role.</p>
<p>Technically, North America actually had the highest rate of leaders with family ties. Two of the eight presidents and prime ministers who served during the period of our study were related to past heads of state. However, since by our definition the region consists of only two countries – the U.S. and Canada – we set it aside during data analysis because it would skew overall results. </p>
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<p>With North America excluded, Europe topped the list of leaders from political families. In this region of <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/democracy">robust democracies</a>, 13 percent of European presidents and prime ministers between 2000 and 2017 came from political families – the same proportion as in Latin America. </p>
<p>Relatively few European leaders, however – just six of 54 – had ties to a previous president or prime minister. </p>
<p>Fully 11 of the 88 Latin American leaders who held office from 2000 to 2017 were related to other presidents. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Batlle-Jorge">Jorge Luís Batlle of Uruguay</a> had three different relatives who held the presidency before him.</p>
<p>Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest percentage of executives with family ties of any region we studied – just 9 percent. </p>
<p>When a sub-Saharan African president or prime minister did have family ties to politics, however, they were powerful and direct. Of the 29 African executives with family ties to politics, 18 – including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/world/africa/congo-kabila-tshisekedi-election.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FKabila%2C%20Joseph&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection">Joseph Kabila of Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-21544245">Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta</a> – were related to former presidents or prime ministers. </p>
<p>Asian presidents and prime ministers were in the middle of the pack regarding political families, according to our study. Twenty-three of 204 Asian leaders covered by our study had family connections to politics. Over 75 percent were in nondemocracies like Bhutan, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka.</p>
<h2>Women in political dynasties</h2>
<p>Our study also offers some interesting insights into how women worldwide get a foothold in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-such-thing-as-gender-equality-if-youre-a-woman-in-politics-71209">male-dominated business of politics</a>.</p>
<p>First off, very few do. Of the 1,029 political executives included in this study, just 66 were women. They included Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the late <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/obituaries/archives/benazir-bhutto">Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto</a>, Liberia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2011/johnson_sirleaf/facts/">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36028247">President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil</a>.</p>
<p>Women who do attain highest office are much more likely to belong to political families than their male counterparts. </p>
<p>Nineteen of the 66 female executives in our sample had familial connections to politics – 29 percent. One hundred of the 963 men we studied – just over 10 percent – had family ties.</p>
<p>This suggests that family ties are particularly important for women to get into politics. </p>
<p>In our analysis, the endorsement of a powerful male relative – himself preferably a former president or prime minister – meaningfully helps female politicians establish their credibility with voters and political insiders. </p>
<p>Family ties are helpful for men, too. But there are other well-trod paths to power.</p>
<h2>Political family ties start with men</h2>
<p>The female presidents and prime ministers who came from political families were, without exception, the first woman in their family to hold office. Their link to power was invariably a male relative, usually a father or husband.</p>
<p>Bhutto, who was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/world/asia/28bhuttocnd.html">assassinated in 2007</a>, came to power 14 years after her father, former President Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto, was assassinated. </p>
<p>Argentina’s Cristina Fernández <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/07/ignore-the-press-cristina-kirchner-isn-t-argentina-s-hillary.html">succeeded her husband</a>, Nestor Kirchner, as president of Argentina in 2007.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/26/world/from-a-symbol-to-a-leader-the-rise-of-corazon-aquino.html">Corazon Aquino</a>, who governed the Philippines from 1986 to 1992, won election after the ouster of the Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos, who was implicated in the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/assassination-of-benigno-aquino-jr-video">assassination of her husband</a>, Senator Benigno Aquino – also one of Marcos’ loudest critics.</p>
<p>Corazon’s power then benefited her son, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was <a href="https://progressive.org/dispatches/oreign-correspondent-the-legacy-of-Ninoy-Aquino-Jr.-181005/">president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016</a>.</p>
<p>This study certainly calls into question the notion that politics is only a meritocracy. </p>
<p>But consider this: 71 percent of all the female world leaders in our study attained highest office without any family connections to politics. That includes Croatia’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/kolinda-grabar-kitarovic/#5e3eba8b3843">Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic</a>, who is the daughter of butchers. She is the first woman ever to govern Croatia, which has been around since A.D. 879.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113098/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To reach the highest rungs of power, a new study shows, it really helps if your dad was president.Farida Jalalzai, Professor and Hannah Atkins Endowed Chair of Political Science, Oklahoma State UniversityMeg Rincker, Professor of Political Science, Purdue University NorthwestLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1081472018-12-19T17:22:21Z2018-12-19T17:22:21Z#MeToo, workplace equality and the ‘wave of women’: 3 essential reads<p><em>Editor’s note: As we come to the end of the year, Conversation editors take a look back at the stories that – for them – exemplified 2018.</em></p>
<p>The impact of #MeToo was arguably one of the biggest stories of 2018, beginning with the steady drumbeat of <a href="https://theconversation.com/nikes-metoo-moment-shows-how-legal-harassment-can-lead-to-illegal-discrimination-95828">resignations of high-powered men accused of sexual misconduct</a> and ending with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-many-women-does-it-take-to-change-a-broken-congress-106595">record number of women entering the U.S. Congress</a>. In between, Americans wrestled with what gender equality really means in the workplace. </p>
<h2>1. Women in tech</h2>
<p>One sector in particular that has struggled to achieve equality is tech, where men get 96 percent of all venture capital funding. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=As_YJbUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Banu Ozkazanc-Pan</a>, a management professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, says Americans’ strong belief that their country is a meritocracy is <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-tech-suffer-because-of-american-myth-of-meritocracy-94269">one the biggest threats</a> to it actually being so. </p>
<p>“The meritocracy myth … means that women are constantly told that all they have to do to get more of that $22 billion or so in venture capital funding is make better pitches or be more assertive,” she writes. “The assumption is that women aren’t trying hard enough or doing the right things to get ahead, not that the way venture capitalists offer funding is itself unfair.”</p>
<h2>2. Trouble in board land</h2>
<p>Tech isn’t the only space where women have a tough time breaking in. The highest echelons of corporate America – the boardrooms – are still out of reach for most women. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://theconversation.com/very-few-women-oversee-us-companies-heres-how-to-change-that-91302">barely 15 percent of the board seats</a> of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 1500 index were held by women in 2014, up modestly from 9.7 percent in 2003, explain business and entrepreneurship professors Yannick Thams, Bari Bendell and Siri Terjesen. </p>
<p>They looked deeper into the data on a state-by-state level to reveal some startling findings – and also point to some potential solutions that could increase boardroom diversity. Instituting quotas – such as the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/18/gender-quotas-california-corporate-boards/1339531002/">one California passed in 2018</a> – is one idea. Another is more training. </p>
<p>“Making it into the highest echelons of a corporation is very difficult and typically requires opportunity for training and access to social networks, both of which are jeopardized when, for example, women suffer harassment on the job or incur a ‘motherhood penalty,’” they write. </p>
<h2>3. What the ‘wave of women’ could mean</h2>
<p>The year ended on a more encouraging note as a record number of women – over 100 – were elected to Congress. The question now is whether it’ll make a difference in terms of policy, including those that would address the challenges posed by the #MeToo era. </p>
<p>The past year <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-wave-of-women-entering-congress-could-turn-the-metoo-movement-into-concrete-action-106199">doesn’t offer much hope</a>, writes Elizabeth C. Tippett, a law professor at the University of Oregon. After a year of headlines involving sexual misconduct in a variety of industries, Congress has not passed a single bill, nor held a hearing – unless you count the Kavanaugh confirmation process, she writes.</p>
<p>She suggests the new Democratic House treat the issue the same way Congress tackled the financial collapse of 2008. </p>
<p>“Just as brokers peddling subprime loans were enabled by bad business practices and regulatory gaps, employer indifference to harassment was made possible by out-of-date harassment laws that gave companies a free pass,” Tippett explains. </p>
<p>By holding hearings and gathering information, the new Congress could begin to treat the endemic workplace problems highlighted by #MeToo as the serious policy issues they deserve to be, she argues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In the last year, workplace culture faced major upheaval for working women. We at The Conversation put together our reporting on that very topic from 2018.Bryan Keogh, Managing EditorNicole Zelniker, Editorial Researcher, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1063862018-11-12T22:06:27Z2018-11-12T22:06:27ZEducation does not always equal social mobility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244012/original/file-20181105-74783-1h7gtbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C455%2C5070%2C2261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some countries seem to provide more equitable opportunities in schools and society in general. Others have work to do if they want to advance the adage that hard work and education afford success regardless of one's existing social status. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/income-inequality-distribution-276410669?src=ZuHwG833Ir3iGSxCfuZcTg-1-56">www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Educators around the world, particularly those in secondary schools, often default to a compelling story when they are trying to motivate their students: Work hard, achieve well and you will secure a successful future with attractive job prospects. </p>
<p>This is currently the conventional wisdom across much of the Western world, with strong links drawn between education, meritocracy and upward social mobility. </p>
<p>But what does the research suggest about intergenerational mobility? Do children from poorer backgrounds have the same potential to realize their dreams if they achieve high standards in their education systems? </p>
<p>In fact, education is important but not enough to change inequities around the world. Intergenerational mobility, referring to changes in social status for different generations in the same family, is far from normal. </p>
<h2>The American dream in Denmark</h2>
<p>Public health researchers <a href="https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/the-spirit-level">Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett argued</a> outcomes in social mobility and education are significantly worse in rich countries with more inequality, that is, with populations that show larger gaps between the wealthy and the poor. For example, the United States and United Kingdom have close associations between fathers’ and sons’ incomes, compared to countries such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. </p>
<p>Wilkson went so far as to jokingly comment in a TED talk “if Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark.” </p>
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<h2>Great mobility?</h2>
<p>The relationship between national levels of income inequality and lower levels of intergenerational mobility is known as the Great Gatsby Curve. The Great Gatsby is the hero of the same-titled F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, who first appears as the enigmatic host of roaring parties in his waterfront mansion. Later, he is revealed as the son of poor farmers. The curve thus seeks to measure how much a person can move up in social class in a given society. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov075">2015 study</a> used cross-national comparable data from <a href="http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/">the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)</a> to shed new light on the role of education in relation to this curve: the study examined the relationships between a person’s education, their parents’ education and labour-market outcomes such as income.</p>
<p>In countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, the results suggested that parental education had little additional impact on a child’s income; it was the child’s level of education that mattered.</p>
<p>But in France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, the impact of parents’ education on their offspring was substantial. In these countries, the children whose parents came from a low education group earned 20 per cent less than children whose parents had higher levels of education, even though these individuals held the same level of qualification in the same subject area.</p>
<p>Collectively, this research suggests that a range of social mobility exists across different countries in relation to how much education a person gets. Equal education does not always mean equal opportunity. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-do-grammar-schools-boost-social-mobility-28121">Hard Evidence: do grammar schools boost social mobility?</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Benchmark measures</h2>
<p>In a globalized economy, reliance on patronage and nepotism has little use. Rather, the global economy requires countries to maximize their human resources, regardless of the social status of particular individuals or groups, to remain competitive.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, governments are increasingly concerned with addressing socioeconomic disadvantages within school systems so that they are able to maximize their nations’ human capital and promote intergenerational mobility. </p>
<p>Indeed, policymakers around the world have shown an affinity for the results of international benchmark measures such as PIAAC and <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">the Programme in International Student Assessment (PISA)</a>. They often rely on such measures to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-PISA-Effect-on-Global-Educational-Governance/Volante/p/book/9781138217416">assess the performance gaps</a> that exist among students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. </p>
<p>Ideally, countries strive for high performance and small achievement gaps, since the latter is a sign of an effective education system. Not surprisingly, some countries seem to be doing a better job at promoting better educational outcomes for students coming from lower socioeconomic groups. </p>
<p>For example, PISA 2015 results indicated that more than 30 per cent of economically disadvantaged students in Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and Slovenia were considered “academically resilient.” This means <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/66e037e8-en.pdf?expires=1541085901&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=10424661411DE01E7C99F68CAFF21A63">they performed at high levels despite coming from the bottom quarter of the socioeconomic status classification system</a>.</p>
<p>While the apparently better-performing countries may take pride in their outcomes, it is worth noting that a high global ranking does not necessarily capture how inequities manifest nationally. For example, Canada has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-there-are-so-few-indigenous-graduates-at-convocation-96782">noticeable gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous education outcomes</a>.</p>
<h2>Policy for equality</h2>
<p>When one considers the capacity of education to influence social mobility around the world the results appear to be mixed. We need more research to understand exactly how some countries seem to provide more equitable opportunities in schools and society, and for whom. </p>
<p>Where there are disparities, governments need to consider more policy options across multiple sectors — to create a situation where equal abilities and qualifications translate to equal prospects and outcomes. Failure to do so casts doubt on our cherished notion of meritocracy. </p>
<p>In other words, in many countries education will only equal social mobility with further government intervention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis Volante receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Jerrim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Conventional wisdom across much of the Western world says there’s a strong link between education and upward social mobility. Really?Louis Volante, Professor of Education, Brock UniversityJohn Jerrim, Lecturer in Economics and Social Statistics, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/979612018-06-13T12:13:17Z2018-06-13T12:13:17ZThe psychological impact of the grammar school test – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222608/original/file-20180611-191974-1vchedj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Grammar schools are never far from the headlines and the BBC’s new mini-series, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b57ynx">Grammar Schools: Who will Get In</a> sheds further light on the selective schooling system, at a time when the prime minister, <a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-theresa-may-this-is-what-you-need-to-know-about-grammar-schools-65360">Theresa May, plans to expand it</a>.</p>
<p>The series follows pupils at three schools in Bexley, south London – which has a fully selective education system. The children featured in the programme showed high levels of anxiety and articulated fears that failing the 11+ exam will make them “a failure in life”.</p>
<p>Children who go to grammar schools may <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp150.pdf">achieve better GCSE results</a>.
But of course, not all children can attend grammar school – and the selection of the children who do attend is fraught with difficulty. Not all children are given the opportunity to take the 11+ – in some counties, only those who are selected by the teachers as likely to pass will take the exam – and of these children between <a href="https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/regions">25-50% of children will pass</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/2276/">recent research</a> demonstrates the negative impact the 11+ can have on children as they move towards transition to secondary school. We asked children to complete questionnaires when they had decided whether to take the 11+ exam, and again when they had received their results. We asked children about their self-esteem, feelings of control and attitudes towards school. We also asked what they thought about intelligence – whether it is innate, or something that can be developed. </p>
<p>This is important, as <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve">research</a> suggests some people think intelligence is “fixed” – with certain people being naturally cleverer. Other people believe intelligence is malleable and can change with effort and techniques. Because of the focus on things people can do to improve, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summary-Mindset-Takeaways-Analysis-Review-ebook/dp/B011QL01CS">a malleable view of intelligence</a> has been linked to positive educational outcomes, such as working hard in school, persisting in the face of setbacks and choosing challenging goals.</p>
<h2>The results explained</h2>
<p>The 11+ exam promotes an extreme fixed view of intelligence. In effect, children are given the message that their performance in a primary school exam can be used to predict their future academic achievement. </p>
<p>We found that children who intended to take the exam felt more positive about themselves and school. But they were also more likely to see intelligence as fixed. When they got their results, children who passed also felt more positive about themselves and school, but again had a fixed view of intelligence – this is most likely because they have been shown to be the “clever” children. </p>
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<p>Children who were not selected to take the exam, or who failed, felt equally negative about themselves and school – which suggests that being told you are likely to fail is as damaging to self-perceptions as actually failing. On top of this, children who did not pass the test were more likely to believe that intelligence can be developed over time. This is probably because believing intelligence is fixed – and that you are not one of the “clever” children – is likely to make you to feel very negative about yourself. </p>
<p>This shows how passing the exam does not necessarily lead to completely positive outcomes – as the fixed view of intelligence may make the transition to secondary school work more challenging. On the other hand, while those who failed or did not sit the exam felt more negative about themselves and school, their more malleable view of intelligence may help them to cope better with the challenges of secondary school work. </p>
<h2>The reality of the exam</h2>
<p>The 11+ exam is meant to tap into “natural ability” and was <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2306856">designed so that performance could not be improved</a> by tutoring. This was thought to give all children an equal opportunity to pass and gain a place in a good school. Though in reality, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-07754-002">many middle class children</a> are tutored for the exam and <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/82559/">are more likely to pass</a>.</p>
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<p>Of course, this is not to say that other educational systems do not have similar inequalities. In areas of the country without the 11+ exam – where children attend school based on their postcode – areas with better schools have markedly higher house prices. And similar patterns have been shown in other <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-selective-schooling-work-anywhere-in-the-world-65252">countries across the world</a>.</p>
<p>If the grammar school system is to continue, then perhaps a better way of selecting children would be to use regular measures of student progress. This would help to reduce anxiety around the exam – and may also help children to realise that intelligence is something they can develop over time – and that with hard work and support, everyone can “grow” their intelligence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Skipper received funding from the ESRC to conduct this research, which was part of a broader project exploring the impact of social influences on student learning. </span></em></p>How the grammar school selection process impacts children’s self-perceptions and view of intelligence.Yvonne Skipper, Lecturer in Psychology, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/942692018-04-24T10:51:46Z2018-04-24T10:51:46ZWomen in tech suffer because of American myth of meritocracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214651/original/file-20180413-540-n4d3kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will they disrupt the tech sector? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Eduardo Munoz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053168016672101">American dream is built</a> on the notion that the U.S. is a meritocracy. Americans believe success in life and business can be earned by anyone willing to put in the hard work necessary to achieve it, or so they say. </p>
<p>Thus, Americans commonly believe that those who are successful deserve to be so and those who aren’t are equally deserving of their fate – despite growing evidence that widening inequalities in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Income-Inequality-in-America-An-Analysis-of-Trends-An-Analysis-of-Trends/Ryscavage/p/book/9781315703541">income</a>, <a href="http://goodtimesweb.org/industrial-policy/2014/SaezZucman2014.pdf">wealth</a>, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30034640.pdf?casa_token=1kXUGe2PvdQAAAAA:CHiX5oT5xeHEXYK4u5IhmroVwpu-EaDxmjOFhFBvND41PwFfZWKAuuoxPEvW999NmzaN-YaJCDIH1ZIZEAvPY62Cf_uzw9-KXV6Btm5w9Yk3nQ25ut0">labor</a> and <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/b/oxp/obooks/9780198779971.html">gender</a> play a major role in who makes it and who doesn’t.</p>
<p>And this very fact – that Americans believe their society is a meritocracy – is the biggest threat to equality, particularly when it comes to gender, as research by myself and others shows. </p>
<h2>The meaning of ‘meritocracy’</h2>
<p><a href="https://ideas.repec.org/b/oxp/obooks/9780198779971.html">Gender inequality</a> is pervasive in American society. </p>
<p>Women in the U.S. continue to experience <a href="http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16470/1/16470.pdf">gender bias</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9897-6_6">sexual harassment</a> and little progress in relation to equitable <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/b/oxp/obooks/9780198779971.html">wages</a>. Top positions in government and the business sector remain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/sep/29/women-better-off-far-from-equal-men">stubbornly male</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_01.html">75 percent of Americans</a> say they believe in meritocracy. This belief persists despite evidence that we tend to use it to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Jost/publication/270539170_Working_for_the_System_Motivated_Defense_of_Meritocratic_Beliefs/links/55b2a23608ae9289a0858e2f.pdf">explain actions</a> that preserve the status quo of gender discrimination rather than reverse it. </p>
<p>This myth is so powerful, it influences our behaviors.</p>
<h2>‘Work harder’</h2>
<p>Entrepreneurship is an area where the myths and realities of the American meritocracy come to a head. </p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="https://www.nawbo.org/resources/women-business-owner-statistics">women own 39 percent</a> of all privately owned businesses but receive only around 4 percent of venture capital funding. Put another way, male-led ventures receive 96 percent of all funding. </p>
<p>Yet the meritocracy myth, which <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2982414">my research shows</a> has a stronghold in the world of entrepreneurship, means that women are constantly told that all they have to do to get more of that <a href="https://nvca.org/pressreleases/total-venture-capital-dollars-invested-2017-track-reach-decade-high/">$22 billion or so in venture capital funding</a> is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258717728028">make better pitches</a> or be more assertive. </p>
<p>The assumption is that women aren’t trying hard enough or doing the right things to get ahead, not that the way venture capitalists offer funding is itself unfair. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214543/original/file-20180412-570-19se1zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ellen Pao, center, sued her venture capital firm for allegedly discriminated against her because she was a woman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jeff Chiu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Pipeline’ problem</h2>
<p>Another explanation for the lack of funding for women is pinned on the “pipeline” problem. That is, women just aren’t interested in the fields that form the backbone of the industry – science, technology, engineering and math. </p>
<p>Thus, if more women entered <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/stem-8868">STEM fields</a>, there would be more women entrepreneurs, and more money would flow to them. Pipeline explanations assume that there are no obstacles <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/women-in-stem-20447">preventing women</a> from becoming entrepreneurs in technology.</p>
<p>Yet, we know the opposite is true. According to technology historian Marie Hicks and her book “Programmed Inequality,” <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/programmed-inequality%22%22">women in tech were pushed out by men</a>. </p>
<p>Research I’ve conducted with management professor Susan Clark Muntean on entrepreneur support organizations, such as accelerators, shows that they often engage in outreach and recruitment tactics that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12225">benefit men rather than women</a>. This is further supported by <a href="https://www.techstars.com/content/blog/diversity-at-techstars-companies/">survey data from Techstars</a>, one of the best-known and respected tech accelerators in the world. About 4 in 5 companies that have gone through their programs are white and almost 9 in 10 are male. </p>
<h2>‘Gender-neutral’ myth</h2>
<p>And yet these tech accelerators are guided by an implicit understanding that gender-neutral outreach and recruitment practices rather than targeted ones will bring in the “best” people. This notion is often expressed as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gwao.12225">“Our doors are open to everyone”</a> to indicate that they do not discriminate.</p>
<p>Ironically, many organizations in the tech sector <a href="http://icic.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ICIC_JPMC_Incubators_post.pdf">adopt this idea</a> because they believe it is gender-neutral and, thus, unbiased. </p>
<p>Yet claiming to be gender-neutral prevents organizations from recognizing that their practices are actually biased. Most outreach and recruitment takes place through word-of-mouth, alumni referrals and personal networks of accelerator leadership, which are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12225">predominantly composed of males</a>.</p>
<p>These approaches often bring in more of the same: white male entrepreneurs rather than diverse professionals. As a result, women do not have equal access to resources in entrepreneurial ecosystems.</p>
<p>And all this is despite the fact that data on returns show venture-backed tech startups with women at the helm <a href="https://www.womenwhotech.com/startupinfographic">outperform</a> those led by men. </p>
<h2>Being ‘gender-aware’</h2>
<p>The first step to solving this problem is for tech startups, investors and accelerators to realize that what they call meritocracy is in fact itself gender-biased and results in mostly white men gaining access to resources and funding. By continuing to believe in meritocracy and maintaining practices associated with it, gender equality will remain a distant goal. </p>
<p>The next step is to move away from gender-neutral approaches and instead adopt <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/metoo-sexual-harassment-what-experts-say/">“gender-aware,” proactive measures</a> to change unfair practices. This includes setting concrete goals to achieve gender balance, examining the gender composition of boards, committees and other influential groups in the organization, and assessing the tools and channels used for outreach, recruitment and support of entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>The return on investment in <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/the-case-for-gender-equality/">gender equality</a> is clear: Supporting and investing in businesses started by half the world’s population will create thriving societies and sustainable economies. And it starts with male allies who want to be part of the solution and recognize that meritocracy, as society currently defines it, isn’t the way to go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Banu Ozkazanc-Pan receives funding from The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.</span></em></p>Americans’ widespread belief that they live in a meritocracy where anyone can get ahead actually makes inequality even worse, particularly in terms of gender.Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, Visiting Associate Professor of Engineering, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/926022018-03-06T14:59:24Z2018-03-06T14:59:24ZHow class and social capital affect university students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208477/original/file-20180301-152575-1494gth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C160%2C849%2C837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Work hard, read your books, and university will be a breeze...or will it? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a great deal of comfort to be had in the idea that success at university is primarily or exclusively the result of a student’s hard work. All that’s needed is for students to do their best and fairness will prevail. Students who don’t apply themselves will fail. End of story. </p>
<p>Or is it?</p>
<p>A far more complex picture of student success and failure has emerged from <a href="http://www.africanminds.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9781928331698_web.pdf">a study</a> tracking the influence of higher education on young people’s lives. We worked with 73 people who first registered for a BA or BSc six years before the data was collected. They had pursued these degrees at three South African research-intensive universities.</p>
<p>Many of the participants shared a strong sense that their university years had provided them with access to powerful knowledge. They felt better able to act in ways aligned to their values and goals. But not all had been able to attain this overwhelmingly positive experience equally. Social class – as well as a range of other factors in the institutions themselves – played a huge role in people’s experiences of accessing and succeeding in higher education, and then getting into the workplace.</p>
<p>Those from impoverished rural settlements or towns, or from peri-urban townships, experienced far more significant hurdles than their urban, middle-class counterparts. This was in part about connections: middle-class, urban students were able to draw on networks before, during and after university. So they tended to enjoy shorter, smoother routes through the institution.</p>
<p>This finding is neither new, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/212017/the-tyranny-of-the-meritocracy-by-lani-guinier/9780807078129/">nor specific to South Africa</a>. The study refutes common sense explanations of higher education success and failure that continue to dominate in our <a href="https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1391&context=ij-sotl">universities</a>. These understand higher education success to be predominantly a function of attributes inherent in the individual. Failure is understood to result from the student’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2015.1072148">lack of such attributes</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, common sense explanations <a href="http://cristal.epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/80">conceptualise universities</a> as being acultural, apolitical spaces where people acquire skills. This maintains the fiction that higher education is a <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088023&content=reviews">meritocracy</a> which fairly rewards individual students’ hard work, motivation, “language skills” and intelligence.</p>
<p>Our data shows the institutional culture, the curriculum structure, teaching and learning approaches, and family support and relatives’ own knowledge of how universities work all played a role in students’ making their way through the system.</p>
<p>Our findings raise a number of concerns for institutions – and individuals – who would like to see fair opportunities for young people wanting to advance their education. </p>
<h2>Family support</h2>
<p>In South Africa, as in similar economies, it is a huge investment for a family to have a young person who is not earning for a number of years after school, and who might also add costs to the household during this period. </p>
<p>The families of some of the participants were able to manage this investment. Some funded their studies through a combination of resources from bursaries, family, or part-time work.</p>
<p>Others, though, came from families with absolutely no financial flexibility and were frequently in financial crisis. This pressure took a toll on the students’ academic progress. Even those who had some funding from the <a href="http://www.nsfas.org.za/content/">National Student Financial Aid Scheme</a> struggled: they had no safety net for any crisis. It took a great deal of energy to manage their basic financial requirements. </p>
<p>But the extent to which the family was able to foster aspirations and engage with the young person’s deliberations and choices was perhaps even more important than financial support. </p>
<p>The data showed that having people with whom to discuss their decisions played a very important role in participants’ higher education journey. This meant having informed people – not necessarily graduates themselves – to talk through their choices. </p>
<p>For instance, a young person might not get access to their first choice of university, and could turn to relatives for discussions and alternative ideas. A more challenging experience for some participants was when they failed academically in their chosen degree and had to figure out a new course of action. </p>
<p>Much of this kind of understanding came from another family member’s experience of going to university. But it was also closely tied to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0142569042000236952">cultural capital</a>: social class played <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2011.527723">a significant role</a>. The transition to the expectations of the university, to its peculiar and discipline specific knowledge making practices for example, is difficult for all students. But access to these powerful knowledge practices is uneven and it is a disservice to pretend <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/degrees-of-inequality-by-suzanne-mettler.html">otherwise</a>. </p>
<p>The social side of university life was also enormously important to these young people, as might be expected. Fitting in, making friends and experiencing campus life were often mentioned. Students from less well-off families sometimes struggled, feeling they had to keep up with more affluent friends in a materialistic culture.</p>
<h2>Cohesion</h2>
<p>How can prospective students from settings where family members or teachers do not have the cultural capital related to university study get support in making decisions? And how can universities assist in attending to these needs once they have made their way into higher education? </p>
<p>While universities can’t attend to all societal problems, the data would suggest that institutions have some role to play in forging social cohesion among their own staff and student body.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited abstract from “Going to University: The influence of Higher Education on the lives of young South Africans” (2018) Case, J., Marshall, D., McKenna, S. & Mogashana, D. African Minds. Available for <a href="http://www.africanminds.co.za/dd-product/going-to-university-the-influence-of-higher-education-on-the-lives-of-young-south-africans/">download here</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>The other authors of the book from which this piece is extracted are Professor Jenni Case (Head of Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech), Professor Delia Marshall (Faculty of Natural Science at the University of the Western Cape) and Dr Disaapele Mogashana (student success coach and consultant at <a href="http://www.mytsi.co.za/">True Success Institute</a>).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors of the book 'Going to University: The influence of higher education on the lives of young South Africans' are grateful for the financial support of the NRF.</span></em></p>Social class plays a huge role in people’s experiences of accessing and succeeding in higher education.Sioux McKenna, Director of PG Studies & Higher Education Studies PhD Co-ordinator, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/896712018-01-05T14:03:37Z2018-01-05T14:03:37ZToby Young: what is ‘progressive eugenics’ and what does it have to do with meritocracy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200924/original/file-20180105-26166-1u6p7qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Toby Young at West London Free School in 2012.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/147400295330624/photos/a.780822028655111.1073741826.147400295330624/780822465321734/?type=3&theater">Toby Young/Facebook</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since Toby Young’s appointment to the government’s new higher education watchdog – the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Students">Office for Students</a> – critics have trawled through his past for evidence of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/03/toby-young-quotes-on-breasts-eugenics-and-working-class-people">unsuitability</a> for the role.</p>
<p>Included in a catalogue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-outcry-over-toby-young-and-why-the-new-university-regulator-could-already-be-doomed-89586">offensive tweets and choice quotes</a> is an article written by Young in 2015, titled <a href="https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2015/09/fall-meritocracy/#_ftn2">The Fall of the Meritocracy</a>. In the article Young takes issue with past attempts to secure social mobility through heavy state intervention. He adopts the classic liberal argument that state intervention should be strictly limited or it becomes coercive.</p>
<p>The only way of encouraging social mobility in a liberal society – a society that values freedom – is to give individuals the power to drive their own upward mobility. Young’s solution: give parents with low IQs the tools to increase the intelligence of their offspring.</p>
<h2>Young’s argument</h2>
<p>The word “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy">meritocracy</a>” was famously coined by Young’s father as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment">dystopian term</a>, but Young himself uses it in the positive sense. This is the idea that a just society is one that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-meritocracy-it-doesnt-make-society-fairer-65260">rewards ability and effort</a>, rather than patronage – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-meritocracy-is-a-smokescreen-for-inherited-privilege-70948">influence of social connections</a>. </p>
<p>In his argument, Young claims that a degree of social mobility is necessary to ensure that an unequal society remains palatable to those who suffer it most. If social divisions were relatively fixed, those at the bottom of the pile would be more likely to revolt. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200925/original/file-20180105-26145-1p4bin0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toby Young with pupils at the West London Free School.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Toby Young/Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meritocracy can nonetheless endanger itself, Young argues, and needs to be protected. Here he makes the highly controversial claim that meritocratic selection is reorganising class boundaries according to IQ. From Young’s perspective, this is a problem for social stability.</p>
<p>For many on the left – the so called “<a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/the-real-reason-im-a-target-for-the-twitchfork-mob/">twitchfork mob</a>” in Young’s terms – he will have already said enough to place himself on the wrong side of history. But he goes further, arguing for a revival of eugenics – the widely discredited science of selective breeding. </p>
<p>He imagines a type of “progressive eugenics” that would “discriminate in favour of the disadvantaged”. It would do so by offering a form of (as yet unavailable) embryo intelligence screening, “free of charge to parents on low incomes with below-average IQs”. This would help reverse the otherwise “inevitable” consolidation of each social class around a similar genetic profile.</p>
<h2>Confronting eugenics</h2>
<p>There is much one might take issue with in Young’s argument. For a start on the topic of meritocracy, there is sociologist Jo Littler’s recent claim that meritocracy scarcely exists. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/20/meritocracy-inequality-theresa-may-donald-trump">She describes it as</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The great delusion that ingrains inequality. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, meritocracy only functions to offer <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00071005.2017.1404252">ideological cover for plutocracy</a> – or government by the wealthy. That is to say, it functions as a dominant social ideal, providing cover for exactly the kind of government that has promoted Young to a position of power. More simply put, Young’s argument about a cognitive elite seems odd to those who feel that there are already too many fools in power.</p>
<p>Young’s accompanying argument, that meritocracy can only be saved by eugenics, will strike many as almost too offensive to warrant reply. But this risks denying the long association between 20th-century efforts to establish meritocracy, and the late 19th and early 20th-century science of eugenics. </p>
<p>In my book <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137272850">Benign Violence</a>, I explain how eugenic thinkers were key players in the developing sciences of psychometric (intelligence) testing and statistics. Operating together, these scientific fields of investigation <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/stephen-j-ball/review-%27benign-violence-education-in-and-beyond-age-of-reason%27">provided the intellectual and political framework</a> within which all debate relating to, and all efforts attempting to secure meritocracy, played out.</p>
<p>Eugenics is nonetheless generally treated as an example of “bad science”. It is also associated with the operations of an overbearing state, and the excessive, overweening aspirations of the social engineer and scientist who “plays God” with the lives of others. The ultimate destination of eugenic science was the holocaust. </p>
<h2>Eugenic continuities</h2>
<p>Without wishing to downplay the totalitarian associations of eugenic science, its first proponents also imagined a more “progressive” version. They hoped it would become a kind of secular religion, or moral framework, to regulate social behaviour in liberal society. </p>
<p>Its most famous, and derided proponent, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Galton">Francis Galton</a>, argued that eugenics would only succeed if it became the commonsense of the age. Arguably, this is precisely what happened with the associated ideal of meritocracy.</p>
<figure class="align-Left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200944/original/file-20180105-26145-112w3uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Francis Galton, the ‘father of eugenics’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikipedia/Public Domain</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The history of meritocracy is the story of a social ideal that became so dominant it no longer needed much institutional support. It became an ethos of personal striving, rather than a regulating idea that state interventions would be measured against. </p>
<p>Like Littler, I too believe that meritocracy <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ansgar-allen/british-public-elect-their-jesus">no longer functions on a principle of fairness</a>. It operates through <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ansgar-allen/%E2%80%98you-never-will-be-rock-star%E2%80%99-britain-social-mobility-and-exploitation-of-ho">the exploitation of hope</a>, staging an aspirational drama where we are asked to negotiate our dreams against an upper limit of survivable self-delusion.</p>
<p>This is the kind of system that will reward someone like Young, who is distinguished not by institutionally accredited indicators of merit and suitability, but by his ability to ingratiate himself to power. Young’s much derided appointment is then, entirely symptomatic of meritocracy in its current form.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ansgar Allen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Toby Young’s comments on meritocracy, and ‘progressive eugenics’ are shocking, but the history of its long association is far more disturbing.Ansgar Allen, Lecturer in Education, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/799672017-06-26T09:58:22Z2017-06-26T09:58:22ZMay’s ‘meritocracy’ might be on hold, but the ideas behind it are here to stay<p>In the aftermath of the shocking general election result, it seems that significant elements of Theresa May’s manifesto <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/21/theresa-may-drops-key-manifesto-pledges-from-queens-speech">have been scrapped</a>. As the Conservative government struggles to cobble together enough support to advance its agenda in a precariously balanced House of Commons, controversial measures such as the pledge to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40354365">re-introduce selective education</a> have been cast aside. </p>
<p>The reintroduction of grammar schools in particular formed the core component of May’s pledge to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/britain-the-great-meritocracy-prime-ministers-speech">transform Britain</a> into the “world’s great meritocracy”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What kind of society do we want to be? … I want Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy – a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and their hard work will allow.</p>
<p>I want us to be a country where everyone plays by the same rules; where ordinary, working class people have more control over their lives and the chance to share fairly in the prosperity of the nation.</p>
<p>And I want Britain to be a place where advantage is based on merit not privilege; where it’s your talent and hard work that matter, not where you were born, who your parents are or what your accent sounds like.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But does this mark the end of meritocracy in Britain? A history of the concept suggests otherwise.</p>
<p>The term “meritocracy” was first coined by the British sociologist Michael Young in his 1958 book <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=e_rTyIMJR9kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Rise+of+the+Meritocracy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXzt_zn9TUAhULIcAKHbo1D1UQ6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">The Rise of the Meritocracy</a>. A powerful piece of dystopian fiction, it describes a society organised according to the formula “IQ + Effort = Merit” – a place where those born without the intelligence or the capacity to work hard are cast aside, while those lucky enough to possess ambition and a high IQ are showered with resources and propelled up the social ladder.</p>
<p>In this world, the elite feel they deserve their exalted position, and hoard ever more rewards for themselves. And as intelligence is passed from one generation to the next, the meritocrats pull up the ladder, ultimately becoming a repressive, heartless and distant ruling caste.</p>
<p>Young was on the political left. Before he published The Rise of the Meritocracy, he had authored Labour’s 1945 manifesto – boldly titled Let Us Face the Future – and served as head of the party’s research department. But by the time he came to write The Rise of the Meritocracy, he’d become increasingly disillusioned with Labour’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/14/past.education">commitment</a> to “big-state” socialism and its support for the <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/school/overview/educationact1944/">tripartite system of secondary education</a>, under which children were “streamed” into three different types of school depending on their performance at the 11-plus exam. </p>
<p>Young wanted to highlight the significant shortcomings of equality of opportunity and encourage the left to think harder about the kind of egalitarianism they supported. But despite the potent dystopianism of his vision, they didn’t heed his warning.</p>
<h2>Aspiration rewarded</h2>
<p>For Labour’s Harold Wilson, who became prime minister in 1964, transforming Britain into a meritocracy was essential if the country was to <a href="http://www.fabians.org.uk/wilsons-white-heat/">harness</a> what he called the “white heat of the technological revolution”. As he saw it, meritocracy would replace Britain’s amateurish, gentlemanly culture with a new class system that rewarded brains and effort. These “new men” (and they were almost invariably men) would deliver economic growth and raise the standard of living for the entire country. By trusting the dispassionate meritocrats to run the national economy, all Britons would benefit.</p>
<p>With the end of the 1960s, the rise of comprehensive schools and a significant economic downturn, it appeared meritocracy would be consigned to the scrapheap of history, a forgotten buzz-word to describe the idealism of a bygone age. The concept, it seemed, failed to speak to a period characterised by political instability and social upheaval.</p>
<p>It returned to the political agenda, however, as a relatively under-explored component of Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power in 1979. The rise of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zqp7tyc">grocer’s daughter</a> seemed like the most meritocratic of political careers, and was a key organising principle for the sort of society she wanted to build: a nation which rewarded aspirational, risk-taking entrepreneurs. Gone, therefore, was meritocracy’s association with economic growth, technical expertise and detached experts.</p>
<p>Meritocracy’s high-water mark, however, came under New Labour. For Tony Blair, the concept helped to distance his party from both the zealous statism of the old left and the social fissures created by Thatcherism. As he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/may/14/election2001.uk">said in 2001</a>: “We are not crypto-Thatcherites. We are not old-style socialists. We are what we believe in. We are meritocrats.” Michael Young, still keeping an eye on British politics, was less than enamoured with these sorts of banal statements, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment">lamented</a> Blair’s failure to recognise the “dangers of what he is advocating”. </p>
<p>But the meaning of meritocracy had shifted a lot in the decades since Young’s 1958 vision. Instead of creating a benevolent new class of elite technocrats to govern in the common interest, the word was invoked by the likes of Blair and David Cameron as shorthand for a society which rewarded those who responded to the needs of the free market. </p>
<p>While May might have <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-queens-speech-whats-in-it-and-whats-out-79858">curbed</a> her explicitly meritocratic plans for the 2017 Queen’s speech, the concept she subscribes to hasn’t lost its rhetorical and political force. In the short term, its relevance depends on whether Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour can win over the public with its <a href="https://theconversation.com/be-it-bold-or-foolish-the-labour-manifesto-at-least-offers-voters-a-real-choice-77829?sr=11">more expansive form of egalitarianism</a>, which focuses more broadly on equality of resources and state support.</p>
<p>But then again, the ideas that animate British meritocracy have been counted out before. For all that Labour’s vision seems to be cutting through while May slims her plans down, meritocratic ideas will surely be front and centre again before too long.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Civil receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. </span></em></p>The notion of an society organised on merit has held Britain in its sway for decades.David Civil, PhD Researcher (Conceptual History of Meritocracy), University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/709482017-01-10T09:02:13Z2017-01-10T09:02:13ZThe meritocracy is a smokescreen for inherited privilege<p>The politics of naming – who is called what by whom – can be used as a weapon, something we saw a great deal of in 2016 against a backdrop of the rise of populism generally. Sometimes it felt absurd: billionaires “taking back control” from “elites” was one narrative in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/2016-us-presidential-election-23653">US election campaign</a>, while during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/brexit-9976">Brexit debate</a> in Britain we heard that Britain had heard enough from “experts” who were dismissed by Michael Gove, a government minister and leading advocate for Brexit, as elitist. </p>
<p>The subtext in both these debates centred upon a view that education and expertise constitute a new aristocracy which is just as exclusionary as an aristocracy of birth.</p>
<p>So there was a delicious sense of irony in a piece by Toby Young in <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/how-todays-ruling-class-use-meritocracy-to-stay-at-the-top/">The Spectator</a> recently. Young sees “meritocracy” – a term coined by his father Michael, later Lord, Young – as the new ethos adopted by today’s ruling class. He believes is has been used to legitimise privilege as the outcome of individual talent, skill and effort rather than the result of birth or education. Young sees the contemporary economic landscape as embodying the situation described by his father’s satirical 1958 account. </p>
<p>For Young, the piece was a way of bashing civil servants such as the former ambassador to the EU, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ivan-rogers-resignation-in-febrile-brexit-britain-it-seems-even-public-servants-are-fair-game-70840">Ivan Rogers</a>, whose recent resignation sparked such a furore and raised questions about <em>who is really running the country</em> – the faceless meritocrats or we, the people. </p>
<p>So what is “meritocracy”? The word is most usually defined as “a society governed by people selected according to merit”. The Oxford dictionary goes on to provide <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/meritocracy">a helpful elucidation</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Britain is a meritocracy, and everyone with skill and imagination may aspire to reach the highest level.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Young (the senior) came up with the new word for the title of his essay <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.155163!/file/philosophicalcritique.pdf">The Rise of the Meritocracy</a> – a satire which describes a future where merit, expertise and intelligence reign supreme over previous divisions of social class assigned by birth.</p>
<p>But his son has come to see sees “meritocracy” as exclusionary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The well-to-do have seized upon the trappings of meritocracy as a way of legitimising and perpetuating their privileged status </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Young (the younger) may have something there. Contemporary sociological and economic research backs his claims. Economist Thomas Piketty’s phrase “<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/03/french-revolutionary">meritocratic extremism</a>” refers to how many of the wealthiest today justify their privilege through recourse to their hard work and educational credentials.</p>
<h2>Branded gentry</h2>
<p>The week after Brexit I attended an “arts week” at an ancient British public school. While it shall remain nameless, I spent much of my time thinking about how I should characterise for the purpose of my research the young adults, their parents and friends who were my hosts. </p>
<p>Observing the virtuosity of 18-year-old jazz aficionados, young bakers who produced cakes to rival Mary Berry’s, and budding composers giving us renditions of Shakespeare sonnets set to original music which sounded reminiscent of Mumford & Sons, my host asked: “What is the biggest difference you’ve noticed in the arts of the public school system?” I responded: “The professionalism. No one at my school would have apologised for the absence of another pupil because they were double booked to play in Jools Holland’s band.”</p>
<p>This ethos of professionalism, an adjunct of meritocracy, was something emphasised in my book <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137509604">Elites, Race and Nationhood: The Branded Gentry</a>. I make a claim that echoes of the past exist today giving rise to an elite who may be termed a “branded gentry”. </p>
<p>A landed gentry existed in a society which assigned class by birth, and the next generations inherited the capital which made this possible – generally land. The capital which young elites today inherit is the ability to brand themselves effectively and control their human capital in much the same way as their landed forebears did: their names have more equity, more investment, more sway than yours or mine. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/its-not-nepotism-its-life-in-our-parallel-universe/">Giles Coren</a> – son of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/oct/19/pressandpublishing.television">Fleet Street aristo Alan</a> – is what I mean by branded gentry, whereas his brother-in-law, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/10051110/Alexander-Armstrong-Dont-blame-us-for-being-rather-posh.html">Alexander Armstrong</a>, is proper landed gentry. </p>
<p>At the public school arts week, my hosts remarked upon how “cosmopolitan” the school is nowadays – sons and daughters of French professors, Russian oligarchs, Nigerian billionaires, Chinese business elites, and so on. I emphasise this point because, on speaking to them, you’d be forgiven for assuming their first language to be “<a href="http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find-out-more/received-pronunciation/">Received Pronunciation</a>” English. </p>
<p>What is cosmopolitan in this elite is that they are citizens of everywhere and nowhere. Despite coming from a number of different backgrounds and breeding, they are all similar: moneyed and educated. Meritocracy is really another name for the professionalisation of elite positions – seemingly removing traditional barriers of entry while erecting new ones that favour the already-established.</p>
<p>So when you hear someone refer to their professionalism, merit or hard work, it’s generally an attempt to divert attention from their inherited privilege. They are saying they deserve their position because of their individual performance – despite the reality that individual accomplishment almost always lags behind inheritance, accumulated wealth or contacts, and educational credentials.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel R. Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s a nice idea: a society where people are judged on merit alone. But it remains a fiction.Daniel R. Smith, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/673272016-10-20T12:15:37Z2016-10-20T12:15:37ZBritain’s great meritocracy gap – why businesses must widen their talent pool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142496/original/image-20161020-8828-cjecc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C635%2C4004%2C3212&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Britain’s new prime minister has put meritocracy <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/britain-the-great-meritocracy-prime-ministers-speech">at the heart of her government’s agenda</a>. It’s a noble goal. This idea of allowing those with the most talent to rise to the top of society and occupy the best jobs must surely be good for society. Similarly, attracting and promoting the best talent has to be good for business.</p>
<p>Rising <a href="https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/wealth-tracker-2016">wealth inequality</a>, however, suggests that the UK has a long way to go to becoming a meritocratic society. If Theresa May wants to make Britain a place where people have “the chance to go as far as their talents will take them”, businesses need to look very carefully at how they recruit and select their future leaders. </p>
<p>Recent research we’ve worked on for the government’s Social Mobility Commission, into the workings of professions such as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434791/A_qualitative_evaluation_of_non-educational_barriers_to_the_elite_professions.pdf">law, accounting</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/549994/Socio-economic_diversity_in_life_sciences_and_investment_banking.pdf">investment banking</a> in the City of London suggests that the way meritocracy is discussed can actually curtail opportunities for social mobility. The findings show that new, more formal recruitment techniques offer the illusion that the City is “<a href="http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/forget-brown-shoes-investment-banks-fiercely-meritocratic/any-other-business/article/1407668#z87QqdbdxugUyAir.991">fiercely meritocratic</a>”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142490/original/image-20161020-8869-4w3piu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theresa May has made the case for meritocracy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/number10gov/29457570052/in/dateposted/">Number 10</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet it remains significantly more difficult for hard-working, talented people from lower socio-economic groups to gain access to these top jobs, compared to their more privileged peers. In particular, there is a disproportionate number of people working in the elite professions who have been privately educated. Research by social mobility charity <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/pathways-banking/">the Sutton Trust</a>
recently found that while 7% of the general population attends a fee-paying school, 34% of new entrants to the banking sector were privately educated, rising to 69% of those working in private equity.</p>
<h2>Appearances can be deceptive</h2>
<p>Organisations certainly cannot be blamed for looking to recruit the most talented students to work for them and in many ways the recruitment and selection processes adopted by elite firms appear to be meritocratic and fair – everyone is judged by the same yardstick. The difficulty arises when trying to assess what is meant by talent. </p>
<p>Elite professions largely equate talent with good A-Level grades and a degree from a narrow range of the “top” universities. At first glance, pre-screening of applicants based on A-Level results may seem a fair way of dealing with large numbers of recruits. But A-Level performance is <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-mobility-why-does-private-school-give-you-such-a-leg-up-45739">strongly correlated with social background</a>, which serves to disadvantage certain groups. Similarly, focusing on students who have gained degrees at elite universities might appear sensible, but those universities are themselves more likely to recruit students <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30939926">from privileged backgrounds</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142498/original/image-20161020-8852-1gnpqu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Privilege persists throughout education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Less objective aspects of the recruitment process can further disadvantage those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. For example, final stage interviews with senior staff are often used to judge whether the applicant would fit into the firm. We were told repeatedly in interviews we conducted with staff across law, accounting and investment banking how important it is that candidates are “polished” and give off the “right” impression. </p>
<p>This may seem logical in a competitive, client-facing environment, but, as our interviewees explained, applicants who have the necessary intellect and aptitude can be rejected purely because they are wearing the “wrong” tie. Plus, an increasingly early start to the recruitment cycle involves applying for internships either before or in the first year of university study. This means that if applicants lack the social networks which provide knowledge about opportunities they are likely to miss out. Thus, the status quo is maintained and it is difficult for those from less privileged backgrounds to access elite professions.</p>
<h2>Redefining talent</h2>
<p>So what can these firms do? Some are clearly working on this and the increase in apprenticeships and post-18 entrance schemes in accounting has been one response. Other leading firms have introduced the use of <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/largest-british-business-to-adopt-contextualised-recruitment.html">contextual data</a>, which allows them to see how applicants compare to peers at their school, to help them judge A-Level results. And many firms engage with third sector organisations such as the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Foundation to offer outreach programmes and work experience. These have been successful up to a point, yet change appears slow. </p>
<p>In order to facilitate further change it is important that firms measure and monitor the social background of both new recruits and current employees; examine all aspects of how they attract and select applicants and consider ring-fencing opportunities for internships from non-traditional candidates. </p>
<p>They should also think critically about how they define merit. Should a candidate’s background be taken into account when making judgements about how they present themselves? If Britain is to be the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/britain-the-great-meritocracy-prime-ministers-speech">“world’s great meritocracy”</a>, firms need to focus on selecting applicants on the basis of their potential to develop the attributes of a good professional, not the polish that comes with a more privileged background.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Duberley received funding from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission to undertake the research upon which this article is based. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Ashley received funding from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission to undertake the research upon which this article is based. </span></em></p>Research shows that the way meritocracy is discussed can actually curtail opportunities for social mobility.Joanne Duberley, Professor of Organisation Studies, University of BirminghamLouise Ashley, Lecturer in Organization Studies, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/652602016-10-06T11:41:43Z2016-10-06T11:41:43ZThe truth about meritocracy: it doesn’t make society fairer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140508/original/image-20161005-14221-hw7hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">racorn/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the core of Theresa May’s reasons for lifting the ban on new grammar schools in September was, the prime minister <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/britain-the-great-meritocracy-prime-ministers-speech">argued</a>, her desire for “Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy”. Reiterating this again at the Conservative Party conference a month later, she said <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/05/theresa-mays-conference-speech-in-full/">that she wants</a> to “build a country that truly works for everyone, not just the privileged few.</p>
<p>By mining a recurrent theme of British politicians with her focus on meritocracy, May argues that by rewarding those who excel and work hard, her government will build a fair society in a country left fractured after the Brexit vote. But she should beware: educational meritocracy is a facade that holds little promise of creating an equitable or egalitarian society.</p>
<h2>Meritocratic dystopia</h2>
<p>It was Michael Young – father of the journalist and free school founder Toby Young – who first coined the term "meritocracy” in his 1958 book <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy_1870_2033.html?id=InXWAAAAMAAJ">The Rise of the Meritocracy</a>. It was also Young, ironically, who provided its first full-blown critique. His book is now best known as a satire on a future society where merit is defined as “IQ plus effort” and social stratification determined by IQ testing. Young’s book is clearly no manifesto for meritocracy and it holds out little prospect that meritocratic forms of selection will necessarily be equitable, let alone egalitarian. But there is also a more positive message in the book about improving equality of opportunity as a means to make meritocracy more acceptable.</p>
<p>In practice, Young’s ideas on equality of opportunity were primarily focused on educational opportunities. As an egalitarian, he deplored Britain’s divisive system of secondary schools to which children were selected through the 11+ exam, based on <a href="https://theconversation.com/genetics-what-it-is-that-makes-you-clever-and-why-its-shrouded-in-controversy-56115">narrow measurements of IQ</a>. He therefore supported the development of non-selective comprehensive secondary schools to replace the tripartite system of grammar, technical and secondary modern schools. He also supported wider social access to higher education through his promotion of an Open University which was <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13619462.2014.981160?journalCode=fcbh20">finally inaugurated</a> by Harold Wilson’s Labour government in 1964.</p>
<p>So Young broadly supported rewards based on merit, but only when underpinned by greater equality in opportunities. What he did not support was a narrow form of meritocracy where merit was judged according to the results of unreliable forms of IQ testing leading to highly unequal forms of education. He <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/29/comment">was disappointed</a> to find the term meritocracy, which he had coined, being widely taken up as an ideal by the Tony Blair government without awareness of the problems which had been shown to attend it.</p>
<h2>Politically attractive</h2>
<p>The political attractions of meritocracy are evident and it has been <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00165.x/abstract">widely accepted</a> as an important element in the ideology of various centre-left parties in Europe. Meritocracy <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Europe_Undivided.html?id=nO1zekJukHwC">was identified</a> by the European Union as a key characteristic of educational and social policy to look out for within former Soviet-block countries aiming to enter the European project. </p>
<p>In China, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-reforms-to-chinas-college-entrance-exam-are-so-revolutionary-36048">Gaokao, a highly selective entrance examination</a> for the higher education system, was re-introduced in 1977 after the country’s chaotic ten-year Cultural Revolution. As my <a href="http://www.springer.com/gb/book/9789811015861#aboutBook">new research has shown</a>, by promoting the Gaokao as a mechanism for meritocratic selection, the Chinese Communist Party was seen as taking a groundbreaking step away from social selection based on political affiliation. But while the Gaokao selection test purported to represent meritocratic selection, in fact it legitimised the privileges of those new elites who seized new political and economic power as China went through a period of market reform.</p>
<p>The Gaokao has meant that lower social groups, such as the working class and peasants who lost their previous social security and welfare, believe that if young people fail the exams or only achieve access to non-prestigious institutions, they are of inferior intelligence. It has stopped them challenging the unfairness of a system that means the children of urban professionals and political elites are more likely to have access to better higher education opportunities. At the same time, it has minimised the importance of the state spending money on policies that would reduce social inequality among different regions and between the rural and the urban.</p>
<h2>A fairer society?</h2>
<p>May is now using the promise of a new educational meritocracy as part of her appeal to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36788782">the “just managing”</a> – at time when persistent social inequality and Brexit have led to division. But it’s not clear <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-do-grammar-schools-boost-social-mobility-28121">if and how a new set of grammar schools</a> will provide more opportunities for upward social mobility for working-class children. </p>
<p>Yet, we can draw from Young’s predictions about what a mature meritocracy would look like. Social status would be determined exclusively by a narrowly defined system of merit, and social inequality for those left behind is a necessary byproduct of rewarding those who excel. This allows no alibis for failure and is likely to be a harsher and more unforgiving type of class society than what preceded it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ye Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Inequality for those left behind is a necessary byproduct of rewarding those who excel.Ye Liu, Lecturer in International Development, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.