Meritocracy: Definition, concepts and ideology

Meritocracy: Definition, concepts and ideology Meritocracy as an ideology Meritocracy can refer to an idealised society where discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, age, and other irrelevant characteristics is completely absent. Merit is the encompassing value, the basic and morally correct criterion for any and all social classifications, particularly in respect to socioeconomic standing and in public space. A notion, emphasising societal consensus on the means and processes of selection for particular roles through a system of sifting, sorting, and rewarding talent and ability, motivated by competition for qualifications that in turn structure access to wealth, prestige, and personal satisfaction. It is conceived as a repudiation of systems like aristocracy where individuals inherit their social status. A meritocracy resembles aristocracy in the classical sense of the term meaning â€Å"rule by the best.† What has happened over the centuries, however, is that aristocracy has become associated with hereditary privilege and a rigi d class system. Instead of this, a meritocracy promotes worthy individuals regardless of which social strata they happen to be born in and each individual has good fortune in proportion to the individuals deservingness (Rawls, 1999, Nozick 1974, Miller 1999). IQ tests primarily tap analytical, logic-based reasoning; and surely that kind of cognitive ability is related to performance in many job settings. But other kinds of cognitive ability are also related to performance and thus also represent merit. For instance: imagination, practical sense, and the ability to interpret others perspectives. By the same token, the effort component of Youngs formulation suggests that a number of personality factors may figure into a reasonable conception of merit. For example, being conscientious may enhance job performance. Of course, some individual traits and social skills may be rewarded because they reflect conformity to arbitrary group norms. â€Å"It is not clear why the term merit should be identified so closely with mental ability as distinct from many other conditions and traits that improve the chances of social and economic success† (Hauser et als, 2000, p. 203). David Miller (1996, 300) eluding on Walzer (1983) has indicated that a meritocracy is not only more stable but also more socially just if there are a number of socially recognised forms of merit: ‘economic contribution would be one kind of merit, education and scholarship another, artistic achievement a third, public service yet another, and so forth. However these other conditions and traits do not contribute to a â€Å"fair opportunity†. In Rawls view, the correlation between ones social origins and ones outcome in life is zero in a meritocracy and as long as some form of the family exists in society fair opportunity cannot be achieved as (Rawls 1971, 64). The social context within which individuals grow up influences the achievements of equally competent persons. Success in the labour market is transmitted from parents to children, and the advantages of the children of successful parents go considerably beyond the benefits of the best education, wealth and genetic cognitive ability. Many of the criteria associated with individual talent and effort do not measure the individual in isolation but rather parallel the phenomena associated with aristocracy; what is called individual talent is actually a function of that individuals social position or opportunities gained by virtue of family and ancestry. Among these, for examp le, one might list ambition or drive, perseverance, responsibility, personal attractiveness, and physical or artistic skills or talents, along with access to social support and to favourable social and economic networks and resources. Access to education is partly defined by inheritance as much research has demonstrated (Bowles and Gintis, 2002; Bourdieu and Passeron 1990; Aschaffenburg and Maas 1997; Sacks, 2003; Ballantine 2001). Compiling evidence from other studies Herrnstein concludes that 80% of the differences in IQ among individuals is explained by inherited factors and 15% is explained by environmental factors (Herrnstein 1971, 171). Children from the upper class get upper class education, middle class children get middle class education, working class people get working class education, and poor people get poor education. Privileged young people can perceive reachable goals and develop lofty aspirations because they tend to benefit from high expectations and support networ ks from the family and social milieu, as well as extensive economic and educational resources. Those who have the resources, via their parental background, will move through higher education, get well paid jobs, and postpone family plans until they are well into their thirties, building their financial and cultural capital significantly prior to family formation. Inheritance may provide access to powerful forms of social capital (who you know) and cultural capital (what you know). Bourdieu Passeron (1990) indicate that students who lack the required knowledge and skills with which to successfully navigate the parameters of middle class culture inevitably fail at school. It therefore seems that unequal educational opportunity is the driver of individual achievement. Research shows that as class rises so does the level of education. As a consequence, the expansion of higher education will broaden the gulf between rich and poor (Blanden et al. 2005). So achievement capacities are ascr ibed to social class. Thus, IQ tests measure intelligence as a reflection of inherent intellectual capacity combined with environmental influences. Thus parents can predispose their children to succeed or fail in life as they are a part of the environment that affect the abilities that children attain. Thus the first and foremost among non-merit factors is the effect of social class at birth on future life. Therefore truly equalizing childrens environments in an effort to create a system with equal opportunities for all would mean having to eliminate the family. Meritocracy thus could lead to a hereditary caste system that, far from promoting social mobility, actually makes social advancement nearly impossible for the lower orders. This could be the case if wealth and social position are or primarily distributed by unchangeable genetic characteristics of individuals. This argument can be reworked into the form of a Hernsteins syllogism: If differences in mental abilities are inherited, and If success requires those abilities, and If earnings and prestige depend on success, Then social standing (which reflects earnings and prestige) will be based to some extent on inherited differences among people. (Herrnstein 1971, 197-8) This implies that absolute equality of opportunity is an ideal that cannot be achieved. (Loury 1977, p. 176). For John Rawls, the question of distributive justice is rather different. He is not content to say that any person begins at some point in the process of acquisition and then is merely constrained by a set of rules and procedures to ensure fairness. Rather, the socioeconomic position of the agent is also considered. Rawls bases his query on how the agent is presented with the distribution of talents and social position. His conclusion is that these distributions are accidental and arbitrary. It is an accident that someone is born with whatever natural traits he may possess. The question is raised whether a meritocracy based on natural abilities is thus unfair. Some might contend, for example, that even if we do not deserve our natural abilities it is not unfair if we reap the rewards of those abilities because the system of reward is independent of the system of deserts. However, Rawls makes the case that social position is also random and arbitrary. The fact that natural abilities may or may not be rewarded in that society is an accident. To be rewarded based merely on an accident is not deserved. Thus, a meritocracy that is based on reward from undeserved social position is similarly unfair. Therefore, both natural abilities and social position may not be the basis of distributive justice because they are unfair. The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted. The individual cannot help how she begins life. Why make her â€Å"pay† for her positive talents and advantages? The rectification of these disparities in Rawls is his difference principle that makes all inequalities subject to the stipulation that the least advantaged will benefit from them.

Gender Roles Today Essay

1. What subtle messages about sex, gender, gender identity and roles, and sexuality were evident in these images? There were many subtle messages when it came to the ads shown in the video. When it came to sexuality, women were shown to be vulnerable and weak; an example is the gang bang shown in the D&G ad with men surrounding the woman. Men are shown as dominant and having control over the woman in many images. Gender identity is similar when it comes to sex; women are shown to be soft, flawless and unrealistically thin; also, I noticed no lesbians in the ads as if gay women don’t exist. Also, men are shown in an unrealistic light and identity; for example, the old rich man who can have any woman because he is rich. As mentioned in the video, this gives many men anxiety and pressure to be ‘rich’. I think all together sex, sexuality and gender roles are shown in a very negative and mostly unrealistic light. 2. What was your response to seeing these images discussed in this way? Was it new to you? Had you noticed different messages being sent to men and women as you flipped through magazines before? Will you look at images in the media in a different way after watching this video? I was really shocked by the images shown in the video. I can’t say I’ve never seen the images shown but I’ve definitely never thought of the subtle messages behind them. I have to say it definitely provided an explanation to me as to why people struggle with things like weight and even depression. I realized media does put an immense amount of pressure on women to be thin but i never noticed the prejudice when it came to gender identity roles. I never noticed the vulnerability of women portrayed and the role of weakness that they place in these ads. All of it is surprising to me especially because I feel like women’s roles have changed over time. Right now they are considered head ho nchos of many companies and as mentioned in the beginning of the video, many companies who have women managing these corporations make more money. 3. How does Jackson Katz show that men’s behaviors are socially constructed and socially learned?  Jackson Katz demonstrates that men’s behavior is socially constructed and learned through the interviews in the beginning of the video. It is clear that men all have the same definition of what it means to be a ‘man’. On top of the one-on-one interviews, he also shows statistics that prove as evidence of men feeling the need to live up to this tough exterior. It showed that between men and women, men were often the violent offenders. He also shows examples of how media and companies put on peer pressure on to men to be a certain way. 4. How does a key social institution, the Media, shape how we perceive men in American society?  In the video, Katz uses the media and the men of large corporations like Disney who cause gender stereotypes. In general, I think the media has portrayed the male gender as dominant, tough, and ‘strong’. The media uses magazines, ads, TV commercials, and any other outlet exposed to the public. I believe even when it comes to the news, men who violate the law are more in the mainstream than women.

History of Guidiance and Counselling in Nigeria

What's the historical development of guidance and counselling in Nigeria? African nations are in a hurry to educate citizens in order to modernize and enhance their social, economic and political development. The concept of guidance and counseling, although relatively new in Africa has been embraced by most developing nations with enormous enthusiasm. This is because counseling is being regarded by most nations as an educational service through which efficient manpower for development can be attained.Counseling practice, however, does run into frequent clashes with African traditions and development goals typical of developing countries. In order to become fully acceptable at this initial stage, the guidance and counseling profession in Africa must tolerate some compromises and modifications from its original philosophy in the Western sense. Several events led to the institutionalization of guidance and counselling in Nigerian school system.Most prominent was the efforts of a group o f Catholic nuns at the St. Theresa's College, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. The Catholic nuns developed a career workshop for all the school's graduating students during the 1959 academic session, especially in the area of subject selection and job search. A major outcome of the workshop was the distribution of the much needed career information that enabled 54 out of the 60 graduating students to gain full employment upon their graduation.The workshop on guidance and counselling held at the comprehensive high school, Aiyetoro in 1963 where Mr. R. O. Rees delivered a paper titled â€Å"The role of the guidance counsellor in a comprehensive high school† was also instrumental to the emergence of guidance and counselling in Nigeria. So, was the book written by Mr. C. I. Berepiki entitled, An approach to guidance in schools. This book inspired the Federal Government of Nigeria to develop a workshop on guidance and counselling in schools.Through these efforts, the Federal government was able t o appreciate the role guidance and counselling needed to play in the nation's overall development that later motivated the Federal Ministry of Education to appoint Mr. C. I. Berepiki to take full charge of the coordination of school guidance and counselling services in Nigeria's school system. Another force that led to the emergence of professional counselling in Nigeria has to do with the events that cropped up after the Nigerian civil war. At the end of the civil war, there arose the dire need to rehabilitate the war victims.The post-war social, political, economic, religious and educational problems, which students, workers and the general public had to face, became enormous such that the less trained career masters/mistresses could not cope. This necessitated a very high demand for guidance counsellors who were expected to provide veritable counselling interventions in the rehabilitation of the war victims. One approach then was for the Federal Government of Nigeria to grant sch olarship to most candidates who desired to pursue masters' degree in guidance and counselling in any Nigerian universities.The introduction of the new National Policy of Education in Nigeria (commonly referred to as the 6-3-3-4 system of Education) for the whole country in 1977, with major revision in 1981, which had among its features, the introduction of a new educational focus for the primary and secondary levels of education also influenced the emergence of guidance and counselling in Nigeria. This policy was a major break away from the existing educational policy that was bequeathed to the nation by the British colonial masters at independence.Under the previous arrangement, secondary school students were expected to spend five years in the secondary school. In addition, the curriculum tended to emphasize much of liberal type of education. But the new policy extended the number of years in secondary school from five years to six years. It further divided secondary education int o two levels: junior secondary school (where the student was expected to spend three years) and the senior secondary school level (where the student was expected to spend the remaining three years).

Paranoid Schizophrenia in The Tell-Tale Heart - 863 Words

Although schizophrenia seems like a rare illness, there are an estimated 1.5 million people in the United States alone who suffer from this disorder (â€Å"Schizophrenia† 3). The most common form of this mental illness is paranoid schizophrenia, which is defined as a chronic mental illness in which a person loses touch with reality and is preoccupied with delusions (â€Å"Mental Health and Schizophrenia† 5). Symptoms of this disorder include auditory hallucinations, delusions, anxiety, anger, emotional distance, violence, argumentativeness, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and self-important or condescending manner. Auditory hallucinations are when one hears sounds, usually voices, that are not real. The voices will give criticisms, insults, and commands (â€Å"Paranoid Schizophrenia† 5). Delusions are false beliefs that one refuses to give up despite being proved wrong with facts, a very common one being that someone is out to get the person (â€Å"Mental Heal th and Schizophrenia† 13). However, one could also have delusions of grandeur, which are false impressions of one’s own importance. Delusions can lead to aggression or violence if one believes they must defend themselves against those who want to cause them harm (â€Å"Paranoid Schizophrenia† 4). The narrator of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† clearly has paranoid schizophrenia because he displays the symptoms of auditory hallucinations, delusions, violence or aggression, and anxiety. The narrator in this story does not hear voices; however, heShow MoreRelatedEdgar Allan Poe Research Paper1375 Words   |  6 Pagesdetailed graphic account? Most of Poe’s short stories revolve around death, gloom and the mental state of his main character/characters. More often than not, the main character of his stories is thought to have a certain degree of insanity. The â€Å"Tell- Tale Heart† does not disappoint. The story follows the formula that Edgar Allan P oe perfected: death, gloom, and mental instability. 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