. The result is an important and timely book that is both fascinating and infuriating.
showing that"43% of white students at Harvard were given preferential treatment because they were 'legacies', athletes, on the dean's 'special interest' list or the children of faculty." Over time, merit has been defined as some mixture of talent or aptitude, virtue or character and hard work or learned expertise.The discussion over what constitutes"merit" has been central to debates over the equity of a society, but Woolbridge glosses over these distinctions. So, for instance, in his discussion of US university admissions, only the history of the SAT is discussed, while the ACT and the important debate over which is the right measurement is ignored.
Given the long history of debates catalogued, it may be surprising to some that the term"meritocracy" was only first used in 1958. It is notable that the sociologist who coined the term is still often profoundly misunderstood, reflecting the extent to which the malleable concept can be used to credibly support whatever aim a politician is promoting at the moment.
Jonathanaknee Meritocracy was and is pure BS misinformation spread by Wall Street to keep workers wages too low.
Jonathanaknee This is how blacks are treated in Federal courts. I labeled my documents for Appellant court. District court has no jurisdiction but wants to influence an Appellate decision. District court says it will consider my motions anyway.