Meritocracy dismissed

ABSTRACT

Undergraduates at elite universities in the US and UK are, according to Dr Warikoo, conflicted about the relation of racial diversity to meritocracy. In the US, white students view racial minorities as academically less qualified but as providing a diversity benefit; UK students view minorities as equal members of a meritocracy but turn a blind eye to racial disparities on and off campus. What Warikoo’s narrative overlooks is the role played by differences between the US and the UK in the educational paths and testing regimes that produce these disparate mentalities. Although 40 per cent of America’s colleges offer test-optional admissions, some like Harvard still require SAT/ACT scores. The SAT/ACT are predictively weak and biased, stigmatizing minorities as underperformers. Test biases and the predictive superiority of high school grades are not widely understood. Warikoo’s proposal to blow up meritocracy with an admissions lottery is to be applauded.

KEYWORDS:

• Racial diversity
• elite colleges
• biased tests
• affirmative action
• meritocracy
• supreme court

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.