The False Promise of Meritocracy

Merit is at the heart of most job evaluation processes.  Corporate America has widely adopted merit based, performance-management systems that ostensibly measure and reward an employee’s contributions.  A survey of more than 300 HR managers found that about 80% reported conducting performance reviews at least once a year.  Companies rely on these types of assessments to make pay and promotion decisions.   

Many companies and industries pride themselves on being meritocratic and believe that those who are clearly the most deserving end up getting the top rewards.  But research shows that organizations that think they are meritocratic and individuals who think they are objective can actually be the most biased in their assessments. 

This paradoxical result occurs because stereotypes often bias our evaluations of other people.  As I write in the Atlantic, this occurs because when “people think they are objective and unbiased then they don’t monitor and scrutinize their own behavior.  They just assume that they are right and that their assessments are accurate.  Yet, studies repeatedly show that stereotypes of all kinds (gender, ethnicity, age, disability etc.) are filters through which we evaluate others, often in ways that advantage dominant groups and disadvantage lower status groups.  For example, studies repeatedly find that the resumes of whites and men are evaluated more positively than are the identical resumes of minorities and women.”

Studies going back decades tend to find that we all think we are unbiased and that our beliefs are valid.  And this is exactly why a blind devotion to meritocracy can create rather than ameliorate inequality – because endorsing meritocratic ideas leads individuals to assume that they are, in fact, making accurate evaluations.  When people assume they are behaving fairly, when they believe in the power of their own objectivity, then the exact conditions are set for bias to be unleashed. 

Really valuing meritocracy requires understanding that “meritocracy desired” is not the same thing as “meritocracy achieved.”  In order to truly have a meritocratic organization, companies must adopt practices that block bias by promoting awareness, transparency, and accountability. 

For more on this topic, including practices that reduce bias in evaluations read my article, The False Promise of Meritocracy, in The Atlantic.

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