Support (and rejection) of meritocracy as a self‐enhancement identity strategy: A qualitative study of university students’ perceptions about meritocracy in higher education
dc.contributor.author | Fernández, DP | |
dc.contributor.author | Ryan, MK | |
dc.contributor.author | Begeny, CT | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-05-18T09:46:36Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2022-11-22 | |
dc.date.updated | 2023-05-18T07:35:41Z | |
dc.description.abstract | Access to Higher Education (HE) is based on the idea that all students should have the same opportunities, and that merit and hard work, regardless of students’ backgrounds, will lead to success. However, inequalities remain despite efforts to provide equal access to HE, raising questions about the validity of such a meritocratic approach. Using qualitative analysis, we interviewed UK university students to understand students’ perceptions of meritocracy in HE, and if and how students associated these perceptions with their gender and subjective socioeconomic status identity experiences. Students’ perceptions could be described in two main ideas: (a) the perceived commitment of their universities to meritocracy, and (b) their endorsement and rejection of meritocracy as an identity enhancement strategy. Hence, both support and lack of support for meritocracy are strategies used by disadvantaged groups to navigate and cope with the lack of opportunities and socioeconomic disadvantages in HE. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | European Union's Horizon 2020 | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 22 November 2022 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2925 | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | 725128 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | 2019 – 72200022 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/133185 | |
dc.identifier | ORCID: 0000-0003-4734-8840 (Begeny, Christopher T) | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Wiley | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. | en_GB |
dc.subject | gender | en_GB |
dc.subject | individual mobility | en_GB |
dc.subject | meritocracy | en_GB |
dc.subject | social identities | en_GB |
dc.subject | socioeconomic status | en_GB |
dc.title | Support (and rejection) of meritocracy as a self‐enhancement identity strategy: A qualitative study of university students’ perceptions about meritocracy in higher education | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2023-05-18T09:46:36Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0046-2772 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.description | The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author [DPF]. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.eissn | 1099-0992 | |
dc.identifier.journal | European Journal of Social Psychology | en_GB |
dc.relation.ispartof | European Journal of Social Psychology | |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2022-10-05 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2022-10-05 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2023-05-18T09:39:27Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2023-05-18T09:46:37Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
refterms.depositException | publishedGoldOA | |
refterms.dateFirstOnline | 2022-11-22 |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.