Higher education expansion and attainment gaps in meritocratic beliefs

2026/07/07 by Angran Li, Minghao Tang · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies #Cultural Differences and Values #Social Capital and Networks

paper · doi:10.1093/sf/soag089

openalex publication_date 2026/07/07 · openalex created_date 2026/07/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08

Abstract

Abstract Over the past decades, higher education has expanded dramatically worldwide, yet how this transformation shapes public beliefs in meritocracy remains underexplored. This study examines how the expansion of higher education has shaped public beliefs in meritocracy across thirty Western countries. Drawing on four waves of repeated cross-national data from the International Social Survey Programme (1987, 1992, 2009, 2019, and ISSP), three-level mixed-effects models show that the gross tertiary enrollment ratio is positively associated with overall endorsement of meritocratic beliefs. Individuals with a college degree express stronger meritocratic beliefs than non-degree holders. Furthermore, the magnitude of the attainment gap increases with gross tertiary enrollment ratios, indicating that higher education expansion (HEE) reinforces belief divides. The findings suggest that HEE diffuses meritocratic norms while simultaneously stratifying their credibility across social groups. It further reveals that mass higher education generates a dual consciousness of meritocracy, combining endorsement and skepticism among individuals. The study highlights how expanding education systems shape the ideological foundations of inequality and underscores the paradoxical role of higher education as both a universalistic script and a positional resource.

Citations

• Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States
• Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects
• The Effects of Education as an Institution
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• Meritocracy, social mobility and a new form of class domination
• The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields
• Is Meritocracy Not So Bad After All? Educational Expansion and Intergenerational Mobility in 40 Countries
• The paradox of inequality that isn’t: rising economic inequality depresses and polarizes citizens’ belief in meritocracy
• The Making of Meritocratic Status Orders

Discussions

• 📢 New in Social Forces Does sending more people to college make a society believe in merit? Across thirty countries, yes. But it also widens the gap between graduates and everyone else in who buys t [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

Related

• The paradox of inequality that isn’t: rising economic inequality depresses and polarizes citizens’ belief in meritocracy
• The Paradox of Inequality that isn’t: Rising Economic Inequality Depresses and Polarises Citizens’ Belief in Meritocracy
• Meritocracy and Its Discontents: Long-run Effects of Repeated School Admission Reforms
• Is Meritocracy Not So Bad After All? Educational Expansion and Intergenerational Mobility in 40 Countries
• The worldwide trend to high participation higher education: dynamics of social stratification in inclusive systems