The Loaded Meaning Behind Merit

I learned the complicated meaning of merit first hand watching my Mom train for Army PT tests. We often lived a few hundred miles from the closest family member so when I was young, we went everywhere together - even to the gym, which, for us, was often the carpeted space directly in front of the TV. I played nearby as my Mom timed and tested herself on pushups and sit-ups, pushing herself a little bit more each time.?

My Mom was an athlete and she liked to win. These PT tests were a joy for her, lining up to compete against men and women alike who all thought they were stronger and faster than her. Then, she would happily crush them one by one. Her words, not mine. That’s one of the many reasons why we aren’t a board game family.?

I never got to see her PT tests first hand, but I always had this mental image that was like the movies. The men would collapse from exhaustion and there was my Mom, still doing pushups. What I didn’t acknowledge in my heroic rendition is that at the time, they didn’t have the same standards for men and women. The expectations for men were faster and higher than the ones for women. But my Mom insisted she would meet or exceed the standards for men. “A standard is a standard,” she would tell me as she pushed herself to the point of collapse just to meet these standards that weren’t made for her.

My Mom knew something I didn’t. Something she would never say out loud but communicated with a million little gestures. As someone born a woman and gay, I would have to work harder than some to get anywhere in my life. I would have to overcome the hurdle of other people’s labels and expectations of me if I wanted to be successful.

As much as the standards were clearly labeled when it came to PT, that double standard of gender exists everywhere whether you acknowledge it or not.?For hundreds of years in US history, merit just meant “men” and it created this world of two standards. If you’re not a white man, you have to work harder. That experience my Mom and I had does not even begin to touch on the coded meaning of merit and series of double standards experienced by every person that is not white in this country.

Today, the word “merit” still has many complex layers and is being weaponized in executive orders that erase trans people and create biased systems for federal workers under the guise of “merit-based” hiring, just to name a few.?

Acknowledging the intricacies of this language means we also have to be careful to reclaim it in a way that honors our objective without people falling back on bad hiring habits. So, I'm taking on the challenge to co-opt this language and ideate on how we can evolve our systems so there’s no more opportunity to back out or abandon this goal of inclusion.?

In my next series, that’s what we’re going to do. For the next four weeks, I’m reclaiming the word merit and dispelling the narrative that a merit-based hiring approach is separate from initiatives that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have spent the last month gathering case studies, data, and research to help every team no matter the size take steps to design more equitable systems that deliver high quality candidates and candidate experiences - from the job post to assessments and candidate communications. ?

We have the power to redefine what is meant to break us. I’m creating this series to help crush that conversation just like my Mom did on her PT test…

You can subscribe to get the first of the 4 part series sent directly to your inbox next week here.?

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