Latest news with #meritocracy
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
If you went to state school, do you ever feel British life is rigged against you? Welcome to the 93% Club
For the first time in our history, we have a cabinet made up entirely of people who went to state schools. Several, including prime minister Keir Starmer, come from working-class backgrounds; some, such as deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, were raised in conditions of poverty that feel as if they ought to belong to another age. So far so good. What better signs could one ask for to show that Britain is a meritocracy, social mobility is real and anyone can rise to the top provided they have talent, commitment and determination? And yet it might be that in some ways these are exceptions that prove a rule: the rule being that for all the changes made down the years, a private education continues to give a disproportionate advantage to those – currently 7% – who use it. Yes, we have a state-educated cabinet and more state-schooled MPs than ever. Yet more broadly throughout the establishment, when looking at senior positions across Whitehall, the judiciary, law, media and finance, the 7% club continues to hold a disproportionate presence, and therefore to exercise disproportionate cultural and political power. That 7% figure is what gave rise to the 93% Club, the UK's network for state-educated people. Its latest report, the Big State School Survey, merits careful reading by anyone who thinks that because we have the most working-class cabinet of our lifetime, the old class divides are gone and the dream of genuine social mobility has been delivered. The survey suggests that though state-educated students may be the majority by far, it is the 93% who have to fit in with the attitudes and actions of the 7% rather than the other way round. The overwhelming sense of the research is that talk of class continues to be brushed aside as impolite conversation – yet it continues to determine who will thrive, who will falter and who is forced to adopt a new cultural identity just to get into the room. What the survey does is show the emotional cost of having to leave parts of your identity and community behind to thrive. It brings a darker side of social mobility into the light. The journey starts at university. For many, the culture shock is instant. Nearly three-quarters of all state school students reported experiencing it. That figure rises to 91% among those from working-class backgrounds, and 94% of students believe that university culture naturally caters to the wealthy. The little things add up. Three in four students say they miss out on formals and dinners (a component of life at universities such as Oxford and Cambridge). Many say they can't afford to join sports teams or take part in extracurricular activities. The result is not just feeling out of place but feeling like the place was never meant for you despite your having worked hard to get there. The divide doesn't end with a degree. In fact, it deepens: 93% of working-class professionals say their background clashes with workplace culture. Many end up straddling two worlds, the one they came from and the one they now operate in, feeling that they don't fully belong to either. To fit in, people say they start to change. Accent. Clothes. Hobbies. Even what they eat and drink. These are not small cosmetic tweaks. They're survival tactics in environments that reward polish over potential. And while a lot of this happens quietly – with a smile, a nod, a stiff upper lip mentality – the impact is loud and lasting; 61% of respondents said they had to leave their community behind to progress. Nearly half said their friendships changed. Some grew distant from their families. This is not social mobility – it's a social trade-off. I've long been a fan of the 93% Club, not least because its 29-year-old founder, Sophie Pender, knows first-hand what it means to come from nothing and make it in the City with few tools or support at her disposal. And what's refreshing about what her organisation is doing is that it's not accepting the status quo or burning it down. Instead, it is retooling the idea of an old boys' network to serve state school graduates – an old boys' and old girls' network for the many, not the few, you might say. The question now is: do we want a country where success still depends on knowing the right people, sounding the right way and fitting into the right mould? Or do we want one where talent is prized and diversity of thought guaranteed? Real social mobility shouldn't come at the cost of your character. It shouldn't mean sanding down your accent, hiding where you're from or second-guessing how you dress, speak or behave. It should mean being able to walk into any room and be taken seriously. A cabinet that reflects that reality is a start – but it can't be the end goal. If we want lasting change, we need more than symbolism – we need infrastructure. A nationwide state-school alumni network that offers the kind of cultural capital, career support and peer sponsorship long taken for granted by the privately educated. A network that not only helps people navigate elite spaces but also mobilises them to rework the cultures within them. The 93% Club has already made significant strides in creating this infrastructure, but it still has work to do. They're asking others to join in – to share their time, open doors and help rewire the systems that still quietly reward one kind of background over another. It's not a pipe dream. It's a proven model that private schools have used for centuries. It's high time we repurposed it to build a country where people can succeed by not leaving their identity at the door but by walking through it the way they are. Alastair Campbell is a former journalist turned strategist and spokesperson for the Labour party. He is now a writer, podcaster, consultant strategist and mental health campaigner
Free Malaysia Today
4 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
67.3% of SPM applicants earn places in public varsities, polytechnics
The higher education ministry said 150,557 SPM students, who applied through the UPUOnline system, were chosen based on the principle of meritocracy. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : About 67.3% of the 223,624 applicants who sat for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination last year have earned places in institutions of higher learning. The higher education ministry said these 150,557 students, who applied through the UPUOnline system, were chosen based on the principle of meritocracy, Bernama reported. All those who qualified were ranked from the highest to the lowest merit score. 'Of the total, 86,589 applicants were offered places at public universities, 42,058 at polytechnics, 20,427 at community colleges and 1,483 at institutions under the Mara higher education division. 'A total of 17,693 applicants received offers under the special pathway, comprising 16,189 from the B40 group, 590 persons with disabilities, 593 athletes and 321 Orang Asli,' it said in a statement. The ministry also said 43 applicants from institutions under the social welfare department were offered places at higher education institutions. A total of 349 academic programmes were offered this year, comprising 41 certificate-level, 55 foundation, 252 diploma and one bachelor's degree programme. Applicants who did not receive an offer may submit an appeal via UPUOnline within 10 days, starting today until 5pm on June 25.
Free Malaysia Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Merit alone won't work in multiracial Malaysia, says Fuziah
Deputy domestic trade and cost of living minister Fuziah Salleh said terms like 'tolerance' fall short in capturing what a harmonious society should aim for. PETALING JAYA : A senator has argued that a purely merit-based system may be impractical in Malaysia, suggesting that a proportional approach would better reflect the country's multiracial make-up. Fuziah Salleh, the deputy domestic trade and cost of living minister, said merit should be applied with consideration for ethnic representation, adding that opportunities and benefits should be distributed in proportion to the population. 'For example, if 60% of the population belongs to a certain ethnic group, then merit should be applied within that proportion,' she said during yesterday's recording of BBC World Questions at the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre. Fuziah, who is also the PKR secretary-general, said her party's constitution already reflects this principle by mandating representation from all major communities. She was responding to a question on how Malaysia can reconcile its secular and democratic values with the continued dominance of race-based policies that favour the Malay-Muslim majority. She said that PKR continues to promote a needs-based policy approach, a shift introduced by party president Anwar Ibrahim more than a decade ago to replace race-based affirmative action. 'It's not about race, it's about need. 'We're trying to educate people that benefits are not a right simply because they belong to a certain group. They should be based on socioeconomic status.' She said PKR also conducts regular internal training sessions to help members understand why policies such as property discounts should be based on need rather than ethnicity. 'Why should a high-income Malay receive the same 10% discount as a poor Indian? We need to reorient our thinking, away from race-based entitlement,' she said. Fuziah also expressed hope that her party's push for needs-based policies would eventually be reflected in national government policies as well. On the topic of national unity, she said terms like 'tolerance' fall short in capturing what a harmonious society should aim for. 'I don't like the word 'tolerance'. It implies merely putting up with each other. It should be about respect, understanding, and embracing what each community stands for,' she said. Malaysia has implemented race-based affirmative action policies since the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1971, aimed at improving the socioeconomic position of the Bumiputeras – primarily the Malays and indigenous groups. While these policies have helped reduce poverty and increase Malay participation in the economy, critics argue that they have created systemic inequalities by sidelining poorer individuals from other ethnic communities.
Globe and Mail
06-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Why an increase in mortgage-free young people is a worrisome sign
'Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich.' That was the bold headline of a recent Economist article, drawing on international data showing many young adults today financially outpace boomers when they were the same age. Since I often report the opposite for younger Canadians, the claim gave me pause. So, I revisited national data on income, unemployment and home ownership for those aged 20 to 34. Canada tells a different story from the Economist headline, except for one notable trend: home ownership among young adults surged during the pandemic. This raises a deeper concern. Canada may be drifting from a meritocracy (albeit an imperfect, and often tilted toward white men, meritocracy) toward a landed aristocracy, where access to secure housing increasingly depends on being born into the right family. The concern doesn't show up in income data. In 1976, when most boomers were young adults, the median full-time, full-year earnings for 20- to 24-year-olds was $43,800 in today's dollars, according to Statistics Canada. The contemporary figure is slightly lower at $41,400. For 25- to 34-year-olds, median earnings dipped from $64,400 in 1976 to $62,500 today. But things shift when we turn to housing. I combined data from Statistics Canada's surveys of consumer finance and financial security, along with five-year mortgage interest rates with average price data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. The result is telling. In 1977, 41 per cent of Canadians under 35 owned a home. The average house cost $253,000 (in today's dollars), it took five years of full-time work to save a 20-per-cent down payment and mortgage rates averaged 10.75 per cent. By 2019, home ownership for young Canadians had dropped to 36 per cent. The average home (now more often a condo) cost $598,000, and it took 13 years to save the down payment. Lower interest rates around 4.6 per cent made carrying a larger mortgage more manageable. Then came the pandemic. As emergency-level interest rates fell to around 3 per cent for 5-year fixed mortgages, home prices soared to $789,000 in 2021 before easing to $700,000 in 2023. Despite the sharp rise in costs – and the 14 years now needed to save a 20-per-cent down payment – home ownership among Canadians under age 35 jumped to 44 per cent, the highest level in five decades. That surge is striking when compared to older peers, whose home-ownership rates remain below historical norms. Among 35- to 44-year-olds today, just 63 per cent own a home – 10 points lower than the same age group in 1977. One clue behind the surge in home ownership among Canadians under 35 stands out: in 2023, 18 per cent of young homeowners reported having no mortgage. The only time this figure was higher was in 1984 – when home values were a third of today's, and interest rates were three times as high. Since 1977, the net value of Canadian principal residences – the total worth of homes minus outstanding mortgages – has grown by $1.5-trillion, after adjusting for population, economic growth and inflation. Canadians over 55, who represent just 30 per cent of the population, captured 60 per cent of that windfall. During the pandemic, record-low interest rates allowed many older homeowners to liquify their housing wealth through refinancing. The data – particularly the number of mortgage-free young people - suggest some may have used that wealth to help younger family members enter the market. At the family level, it's a beautiful act of intergenerational love. At the societal level, it's deeply troubling. Because entering the housing market increasingly depends on how much housing wealth your family has accumulated – not how hard you work. That's the textbook definition of a landed aristocracy. This trend is already driving a sharp divide among younger Canadians. The median net worth of homeowners under 35 is $457,000. For their peers who rent, it's just $44,000. In my last column, I called for a national task force to confront a question too many politicians dodge: should home prices rise, stall or fall? That same task force should also take up a related challenge – how to address the growing housing wealth divide between generations, and now increasingly within them. If we believe Canada should reward effort over inheritance, then we must face a hard truth: our housing system is failing the meritocracy test.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Squeezed by China's Slowdown, Internet Users Lash Out at Elites
What do a Chinese commencement speaker at Harvard, an actress posting selfies and a trainee doctor at a Beijing hospital have in common? Not much — except that they've all found themselves at the heart of fierce online debates in China about privilege and inequality. The three disputes, which have dominated Chinese social media in recent weeks, all featured accusations that the main players had gotten ahead by dirty means, whether that was true or not. The Harvard graduate faced questions — unfair ones, some say — about how she had gotten into the elite American university; the actress, about how she could afford the flashy jewelry she wore in her selfies; and the doctor, about how she'd obtained her job at the hospital. All three were depicted as having had a leg up because of parents with connections. There is no evidence that the Harvard graduate did anything wrong, while Chinese government investigations have found fault in the other two cases. But many commentators, in state-run media and elsewhere, have said that the outcries over all three may share a common root: a sense of resentment and anxiety that in China's fiercely competitive society, merit may be irrelevant. Such concerns are longstanding, but they have grown more urgent as China's economy slows and opportunities for upward mobility seem to be disappearing. The government, fearing social unrest, has vowed to address inequality. China's leader, Xi Jinping, has pledged to work for 'common prosperity' and crack down on corruption. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
