The formation of meritocratic beliefs through educational experiences and interventions: A mixed-methods study of former medical applicants in Germany and the UK (MixedMerit)

• Applicant: Dr. Rebecca Wetter
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 577780351

While individual merit certainly contributes to educational success, there is clear evidence that educational attainment remains strongly linked to social background. However, a growing concern about this persisting inequality fails to materialize, which could be linked to widespread meritocratic beliefs: beliefs that success depends primarily on hard work and ability rather than social background. (Non)meritocratic inequality beliefs do not emerge in a vacuum, but previous research suggests that educational institutions and experiences within these institutions crucially shape inequality beliefs. However, these studies do not address which specific experiences shape these beliefs and how these beliefs can be altered. Research on Germany and the United Kingdom suggests that elements of both countries’ educational systems (early ability-tracking and private schools) may lead to beliefs that success depends on innate ability. Hence, I plan to focus on these two countries, allowing for a comparison of educational systems and belief formation. First, I will examine which characteristics (e.g., educational success, social background, school types, and discrimination) are associated with beliefs that success depends on hard work rather than ability, or beliefs that success depends on family background rather than hard work or ability, and which specific experiences in educational institutions are the mechanisms behind these associations. Second, I will examine whether a brief intervention to increase awareness of structural inequality (i.e., information about factors behind educational success or reflection on own advantages and disadvantages) can alter inequality beliefs. Third, I plan to compare how experiences in different educational systems in Germany and the UK shape young adults’ inequality beliefs. To address these questions, I plan to use a mixed-methods approach, complementing the already conducted analysis of quantitative survey data on former medical applicants in Germany with approximately 25 qualitative interviews with participants from this survey who will be selected based on their inequality beliefs, social background, and other characteristics identified in the quantitative analysis as predictors of inequality beliefs. Furthermore, I plan to conduct approximately 15 similar interviews with former medical applicants in the UK, whom I will recruit from the UK Medical Cohort Study. These applicants are a well-suited group to study the formation of inequality beliefs, as they have undergone a highly competitive selection process with a strong meritocratic narrative and differ in their outcomes of this attempt. The results of the project could contribute to the understanding of the formation of inequality beliefs in Germany and the UK and provide crucial insights to design interventions that promote a balanced understanding of success: the first step to pave the way for a more just educational system with equal opportunities for all.

• DFG Programme: Fellowship
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Sam Friedman, Ph.D.