Educational Inequality: Meritocracy trap in the 21st century

Abstract

In the past few decades, social scientists have paid more and more attention to the relationship between the accomplishments and advantages people gain from the education system and socio-economic inequality. However, few studies try to explore that in real practice, when people acquiesce to the rules of meritocracy, they will still respect the left behind and discuss these inequalities. Neglecting the significant influence of outside factors and placing the blame on people's hearts can result in a variety of harms to a person's physical and mental development, including symbolic violence and loss of concern. In this paper, the origin and market basis of performance excellence will be discussed, which makes performance the standard on which people live. When meritocracy claims to provide equal opportunity, family-based inequality issues still come into play. Reviewing the inequality of social and economic status helps to clarify the human capital, cultural capital and other factors in the growth process. Mirroring the literature, several solutions include improving the evaluation strategy or coming up with a fresh approach to achieving growth-oriented education.