Reconsider Your Use of the Word ‘Merit’
White guys: please discontinue the use of the word “merit” in 2021…. at least until you’ve learned why your colleagues who identify as other than white and/or male often see our use of the word ‘merit’ as a deep code for bias. And if you start today, consider it an early New Year’s resolution.
Many white men are still operating with the unintentional prejudice of Diversity vs. Merit. It sounds like this:
“Of course I believe in diversity. But they have to be qualified.”
“I guess I’ve just got to go out and hire a person of color, whether they’re the best candidate or not.”
“It must be a great time to be a woman in tech, since they are getting all the jobs.”
Woven deeply into such perspectives is the bias that those who are not white men may be less qualified. Many white women and people of color have experienced such sexist and racist assumptions about their qualifications. The performance vs. potential barrier is very well documented and established—basically, men are evaluated on potential whereas women (and often others experiencing disadvantage) are evaluated on performance. If you’re unfamiliar with this phenomenon—and example of pervasive systemic bias—you can learn more from this recent psychology research article.
We must remove this prejudice among us. As long as such bias occurs, it should not surprise anyone that, when white men presume a meritocracy, it does not land well for colleagues whose merit is so openly doubted.
It’s not that the core idea in meritocracy is flawed. Excellent qualifications and performance should be what we all expect. No person should be hired or promoted because of their gender or race. While this may happen periodically, it does not set that person up for success, it reinforces the diversity vs. merit bias, and in those ways it hurts the organization.
But let’s be clear: many employees who identify as other than white men offer stellar credentials and deliver great performance. They deeply want opportunities based on their merit. So let’s focus on honestly evaluating that reality, and root out any presumption of their incompetence.
In 2021, monitor your internal assumptions about merit. Don’t assume that anyone is qualified or unqualified. Instead, explore every person’s performance and potential without bias. We can do our part to move toward constructing a truly inclusive meritocracy.