The Case Against Meritocracy

By Vanessa Mabonzo

Meritocracy is the idea that our achievements in life are the result of our own merit, skill, or effort. The ideology tells us if we are ambitious and driven enough to put in the ‘work’, we can become anything we want. Whilst it might appear on the surface our society is meritocratic, if you dig deeper it becomes obvious the system only works for those born into privilege. Vanessa Mabonzo, Finnish born Anthropology student studying in the UK, argues her own personal case against meritocracy.

“To be born in Finland, is to win the lottery,” my primary school teacher proclaimed in awe, to our home, one of the most equal countries in the world. Whether the case was applying for jobs, or government financial assistance—the Finns have equal chances for a good life. The premise being that from hard work can be expected results.

My teacher believed in the concept of meritocracy in which “the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement.” This fits more than perfectly to the image of a utopian-like welfare state, being surprisingly voted as the happiest country of 2019. Who knew that darkness from October to March creates jolly human beings?

With the principles of meritocracy in mind, I entered the job market. I designed my resume to fit my extensive volunteering experience, and language course trips. My resume looked pretty good, to say so myself. As I landed my first retail job, I was beyond proud. I got to know my peers and supervisors, befriended them and returned to the same position for three consecutive summers.

Right before going back for my last summer in the job, I experienced hardship that forced me to become racially conscious. I began to see that half of

“Meritocracy works fine for those who the system was built for.”

the behavior I deemed as rude or ignorant in the past, actually translated into racism. Comments that made me feel uncomfortable in the past were suddenly explained through terms like microaggression. People who questioned my roots were no longer experienced as merely innocent or curious, but rather as othering

“The concept of meritocracy serves the privileged, whose race and class has created an insulated environment which hides them from the reality of other’s experience.”

and excluding. White people are amazed at the fact that we are not given a ‘How to be Black and Deal with Racism 101’ manual when we’re born.

I came back to the same job with the same people, but nothing felt the same. I was hyperaware of the fact that everyone around me was white. Both customers and coworkers. When taking into account all of the employees in this huge building, a tiny portion were from a minority background. In my department I was the only brown person—the other brown people working for the company could be found in stereotypical positions like cleaning and warehousing.

There’s been extensive research conducted in Europe on the issue of discrimination of applicants of immigrant backgrounds. In Finland, similar research was conducted by Akhlaq Ahmad in the Journal of Work, Employment and Society, which found employers were more likely to dismiss applicants who had complicated ‘exotic’ names from non-European backgrounds, which also implied they had darker skin tones. In comparison, an applicant with a native name received 39 per cent more callbacks. Ahmad said the results are “a particular cause for serious concern”, as all applicants had a Finnish education, were raised locally, and had similar work experience.

The experience of being the only person of a minority background in the room followed me to university in the UK. The dream of finding more representation at university in a different country was soon broken. Not even universities reward students according to their merit: a mere 56 per cent of black students achieved a First of 2:1 (60-69 per cent grade) in comparison to 80 per cent of their white peers, according to UK Government statistics. Meritocracy works fine for those who the system was built for. Senior Lecturer Dr. Carol Azumah Dennis accurately described my relationship to university as a “conscious unbelonging… accompanied by a willingness to sneak into the university and steal what I can… to be in but not of the university.”

With the death of George Floyd and the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement over recent months, I’ve found myself having to process years of racial trauma; I’m growing tired. In my mind, I struggle with the belief that I don’t deserve the same successes my white peers have accomplished over the years. It doesn’t matter if I accomplish something; I still can’t seem to connect those wins to my personal skills and abilities. To this day, I find myself stating I was admitted to university by sheer luck, although I know I’m an intelligent and hardworking student.

After a couple of YouTube searches, it seems

to me that I’m suffering from imposter syndrome, occurring often among women of colour as we’ve been constantly messaged throughout our entire lives that we are ‘less-than’, or undeserving of success. Our achievements go against this internalised narrative imposed upon us by society. In higher education and corporate environments, a lack of representation reinforces this narrative which perpetuates there’s no opportunity for advancement, simultaneously giving us no one to look up to in terms of managing the realities of stereotype, stigma, and oppression in a white environment.

This text must be bleak for many to say the least. Yet, to me understanding institutional structures and the issues we have to navigate, as Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) youth, is essential in combatting ignorance and contributing to making a sustainable change.

I cannot feel but hopeful for the future. I believe the universe challenges us on our path of purpose towards personal growth. I find my perspectives and experiences are significant in changing not only my own future, but of those who choose to follow the same path in challenging systemic racism. As future educators, we will be able to explain from our own experiences the very real consequences resulting from structural violence. Especially from the perspective of being children of first-generation immigrants, whose parents were also new to the challenges their children would soon face once migrating abroad.

The concept of meritocracy serves the privileged, whose race and class has created an insulated environment which hides them from the reality of other’s experiences. By claiming we all have equal starting points, it dismisses our experiences, making it harder to address societal issues. Unfortunately, for individuals who stink of unrecognized privilege, our generation of BAME youth will not stop in demanding respect and claiming their rightful place in society. You will hear from us as we enter your corporate board meetings, become professors in top global universities, and run for public office. Dramatic? Yes, but change is coming. ■