BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.21, No.1, 2025, BECE 2001 

 

 

 

 

Meritocracy in Education: Bridging or Widening Ed-

ucational Inequality 

By Cui, Y. & Zhao, Q. 
Correspondence to: Qian Zhao, Beijing Normal University, China. E-mail: edi-

torial-office@bonoi.org 

ERITOCRACY emphasizes that reward for and advancement of the 

individuals should be based on their effort and talent. It finds a strong 

echo in the Chinese educational tradition, which places high value on the no-

tion that “hard work pays off.” Nevertheless, in the context of the exacerba-

tion of structural social inequalities, a sizable number of studies find that 

meritocracy, in practice, is unable to promote fairness, but instead obscures 

the issue of uneven distribution of education resources, further widening the 

disparities in educational opportunities between students with different soci-

oeconomic status (SES). Based on data from the China Family Panel Studies 

(CFPS), this study is an empirical analysis of the effects of the meritocratic 

belief on access to educational opportunities in Chinese adolescents, as well 

as its heterogeneous effects among students with distinct SES backgrounds. 

Research Findings: 

• The vast majority of the adolescents surveyed held a strong belief 

in meritocracy. 

• The meritocratic belief had significantly positive effects on access 

to educational opportunities in the adolescents. 

• There were class differences in the said effects between the ado-

lescents. 

• The positive effects were the most substantial in high-SES teen-

agers. 

• The availability of education resources remained the pivotal fac-

tor in the disparity in educational opportunities. 

The study’s findings suggest the necessity of recognizing the hetero-

geneous impacts of meritocracy on various social strata and avoiding gener-

alization of its role in educational equity. Individual examples of low SES 

students achieving successful educational outcomes should not divert atten-

tion away from the educational challenges faced by this underprivileged 

group across the board. The optimization of the effect of the meritocratic be-

lief on academic advancement in adolescents is contingent on structural im-

provement in education resource distribution. 

M 

mailto:editorial-office@bonoi.org
mailto:editorial-office@bonoi.org


 

Vol.21, No.1, 2025, BECE 2002 

 
Source: Research in Educational Development, 2025; 45(06):28-36.