The Myths of Meritocracy : a revisionist history anthology

by Malcolm Gladwell

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Education, History, Sociology, Essays, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2021

About the author

Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published seven books. He is also the host of the podcast Revisionist History and co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries.
Gladwell's writings often deal with the unexpected implications of research in the social sciences, such as sociology and psychology, and make frequent and extended use of academic work. Gladwell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011.

Reviews

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great.
The truth is that it has been a pleasure to finally have the opportunity to enter the mind of the author.
The discussions raised and the way of thinking of Gladwell completely conquered me, I have the impression that I could listen to this gentleman speak for hours no matter what the topic is.
I had wanted to read something about the author for a long time and now I am very clear that I will continue to devour his work.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladwell takes on Higher Ed in this Scribd audiobook, and the results are nothing short of fascinating. I particularly enjoyed his expose on timed tests, endowments, and college rankings.

[Hyun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an audiobook based on podcasts and technically not a book, but I loved listening to Malcolm Gladwell. It was very enlightening and has me thinking very differently about the education system here in the United States. How it’s not really a system based on merit, but one based on privilege. I can’t help but agreeing with him on the different topics he presents. This has left me wanting to listen to his podcast so I can be entertained and educated at the same time.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audiobook. It was presented energetically, typical of Mr. Gladwell. I forgot how unsettling his arguments can be... maybe not great to listen to while driving! Haha. Sadly doubt there will be positive change to America's educational system.

[Kaydee Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow. If you have ever been to school or plan on sending your kids to school, this is a must read (?). It’s a compilation of podcasts with a decent amount of intermediary commentary. But my gosh. If you have any interest in the state of American education, particularly higher education, give it a go. But, since Garrett and I are both teachers, perhaps this is more niche than I feel like it is.

[Chris Loveless · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not hard to grasp stuff but gladwell clearly provides examples of the lack of meritocracy with education and testing. The story of chess playing was interesting but really I think unnecessary as relates to the lack of fairness with education testing, admissions and testing. Schools are rated with no rational rating systems but rather on peoples perception of a school. Great schools in la, Al, ms but who admit the most kids on pell grants and kids whose family makes $30,000 a year and as a result are ranked lower for no rational reason. Interesting idea and fact the lsat has time limits which certain people will score higher than other folks but if time limits were removed a different group of kids would score higher and thus be admitted to higher ranked law schools, who would then be offered jobs at the best law firms. In the end, where you go to school really has determinant for success .

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Malcolm Gladwell. As usual, he looks at a subject in a perspective unique his own and challenges what you think you know about it. This time it’s mostly about higher education. While I still have questions about what he considers settled research, that’s ok, it often makes me think about my position and see another, which has great value today. This would be a great audiobook to listen with someone else and ask questions of each other like “do you think his interpretation of that study is solid?” “What about his take, does it make you think about xyz differently?” Good stuff.

[Sara Maddock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard some of these as a fan of Revisionist History. My favorite NF writer on one of my favorite topics.

[Sasha Pravdic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly highly recommend!

[Laura ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladwell is insightful as always, and it was definitely an interesting anthology to listen to - it has always amazed me how different the US education system is to other places!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Pushkin Audiobook from Hoopla. A collection of Gladwells podcasts on Education. This is very good.

Carlos - smart kids in the LA hood -need to start earlier identifying as 80 percent are gang affiliated by 8th grade. The importance of having an advocate as well off kids get second chances
Bowdoin great cafeteria and Vassars decision to not concentrate on amenities to invest more money in need scholarships
Powerball NIH and Elections-
discussing research done regarding our inability to pick best politicians and NIH inability to pick best projects. explores doing these things by lottery.
The Rowan Gift - how Henry and Betty Rowan made big changes by donating 100 million dollars to a state school to create an engineering school in 1992 the largest gift of it's type. Gladwell
dumps on large gifts to universities that dont need it . The rich get richer sort of thing.
LSATs- Gladwell and employee duke it out in taking the LSATs and do standardize testing matter.
discussion on Supreme Court and Justice Scalia saying that he would only pick clerks from the Best
Law Schools ie Harvard due to being risk averse. He also said his best clerk Paul Clement went to a law school not in the top ten.
US News and review - discusses the algorithm
Dillard College- how the algorithm systematically awards privilege in its ranking system. How Dillard graduates more Black Physic Majors than Harvard.

[Abraham Vincil · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoy how gladwell is not giving solutions to problems but instead is bringing to light opportunities for traditions to be rethought and improved

[Jonathan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book
One of Malcom’s best
He puts together 5 of his episodes from his podcast that all stem from the issue that annoys him the most, the American education system
He uses the audio from a lot of interviews that he conducted to add to the book
A few of the topics that he went over:
Weak Link vs Strong Link: pour resources into leaders or into the average people
Teachers needing to be diverse: black teachers fired after brown vs board of education
Timed exams vs non timed exams: these create nice bell curves for admissions and hr, but they disadvantage perfectionists
Democratic lottery: for admissions, class president, grant funding, etc, use a combination of democratic choose to weed out the bottom candidates, but then use a lottery for the final selection (I liked this idea a lot)
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot
I recommend it for anyone looking for solutions in education

[Vincent Waldron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Myths of Meritocracy is a group of stories that Malcolm Gladwell has done through his podcast platform (Revisionist History) on the subject of the education system in the United States. Some of the stories are only tangentially related to education. It seems to me that he is better at identifying problems with the current educational system than at figuring out ways to improve it.

Apparently, higher education in Canada is better -- at least it was in the 1970s when Malcolm was applying to college. There seems to be little doubt that wealthy people are good at gaming the system to make certain that their children get in to the best schools and have the most opportunities to succeed as a result. Other than his lottery suggestion, where students are randomly selected after an initial cull, I'm not certain that there are any real solutions. Certainly, private schools like Harvard, Williams, and Yale have little incentive to start selecting high numbers of students from poor families to attend University -- they have billion dollar endowments because they have specifically accepted children from wealthy families.

I enjoy Malcolm's stories in general. I would only say that you will need to do more reading if you are interested in solutions for our educational woes and not simply numerous stories attacking the ways in which our current system is biased to benefit those from wealthy families.

[Audrey Brumlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

analyzes and critiques the American education system. From a perspective of a Canadian frustrated with our obsession with our colleges. From applications to graduation. Exposes the privileges laced in the fabric of our system and how it harms more people then as a society we care to admit or wish to. There's a section on lawyers and testing in America. comparison between chess masters and lawyers taking I think it's the LSAT I don't I can't remember I feel like that's right.
just how all our systems are so flawed and prevent many people from their fullest potential and it's honestly kind of sad the stories are told in our almost like comical tone yet the deep message behind every single one of the chapters is so heartbreaking and upsetting. Wow I want to cry like it was it's just really sad the hurt that our education can cause and there's just so much emphasis on it like school first always I think I'm going to have an existential crisis wow maybe don't read this whole book a straight. finished in a day oops.

[Chris Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, read this an be illuminated. There is always so much to learn when reading Gladwell, and so much to ponder. Some parts dissipate, and some change you utterly.

What becomes clear is that meritocracy only exists as long as we buy into it. Like that Simpsons episode where the destructive giant donut store sign loses its power once Lisa convinces people to stop giving it attention, meritocracy only holds power while people hold them up as examples of superiority. It is difficult in the US to understand that there is another way of thinking, but Gladwell points out that it is how people live in most other countries, including Canada to some degree (ignoring the whole royalty thing).

We know that Jaguars are not good vehicles, that expensive wine does not taste much different than mid-range wine, and that Louis Vuitton bags are not made better or more stylishly than cheaper options. Gladwell extends this into education, government, and more. Well worth reading even if you are not convinced of all his arguments.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! He takes you through all the ways our society needs to revise our higher education system. The totally illogical way the LSAT are used to determine placement success in top ranked law schools. Colleges and university rankings are in part based on the opinions of three school personnel, who have, in many cases never visited or have any knowledge of the schools they rank. It is preposterous that exclusivity is one of the factors that improve rank. Higher paid teachers does not translate into better educators. He also highlights how awful it was that that Brown v. Board of education so many qualified black teachers were fired, thereby depriving students and schools of their expertise. We have a long way to go to improve our education system for everyone.

[Lawrence Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am totally enamores with Malcolm Gladwell’s writing, and the audiobook versions of his books are spellbinding. I have read Outliers, The Tipping Point, Blink, David and Goliath and Talking to Strangers. For me this audiobook is just a continuation of his entertaining style. I highly recommend it.

He addresses the structural defects in the educational system that will sustain inequality long into the future. It was interesting to listen to this book after the analysis in Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution, because it both books the concept of a Democratic lottery is explored in depth.

[Bryant Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who works on a state university campus, what struck me most about this book is its ability to challenge the deeply ingrained assumptions that I had about US colleges and expose the hidden mechanisms at play within higher education.

Gladwell very masterfully dismantles the myth of meritocracy, unveiling the ways in which privilege and biases shape educational opportunities. His analysis paints a comprehensive picture of the complex interplay between social, economic, and racial factors that influence access and success in higher education.

I recommend checking it out!

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mythbusting

3/5

If you are remotely conscious, moral, or even rational, you know that education in the US is as broken, unethical, hierarchical, & segregated as the rest of our institutions. The best predictors of getting into Harvard are not the over-saturated, under-realistic values of "hard work" or "the American dream", but rather your/your parents' income, their legacy, & your zip code.

But much more than that, American education restricts. If you are poor but intelligent/gifted, it is essentially impossible to escape the pipeline of poor public schooling. Conversely, being rich automatically opens doors those poor kids will never even stand outside, let alone enter.

The fascinating irony of this book is Gladwell himself's privilege. He spends time with mega-millionaires & has himself been questioned for sympathizing with/defending criminally exploitative industries like big tobacco, etc. Early in the book, he interviews a wealthy entertainment lawyer whose philanthropy benefits at-risk, remarkable youth, one of which is spoken about in the book. While they lament this boy's mother's failures & his unstable housing, they are in a massive mansion....lol can't make this up. Typical centrism -- eager to point out the injustice on the street while safe behind windows & locked doors, never putting themselves in an actually tangible position.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gladwell is always both entertaining and thought-provoking. A few of his points:
1. Brown v. Board of Education may have integrated schools for children, but thousands of black teachers lost their jobs.
2. The LSAT favors fast thinkers, but Supreme Court law clerks can spend months thinking about legal cases.
3. The skills necessary to be a good campaigner are not necessarily the skills needed to be a good office holder. Maybe some elections could be replaced with choosing candidates at random.
4. The score given to medical research grant applications does not correlate strongly with the number of citations for the resulting research. Perhaps a better method would be to eliminate the bottom half of applications and pick the winners at random.
5. Bowdoin spends money on fancy food in the dormitories. Vassar spends money on student aid. You have to pick one or the other.
6. The US News & World Report college rankings are heavily weighted by peer opinion scores and endowment size.

[Madeleine George · Rating 5 out of 5]

The topic of American higher education-- the emotional weight it holds, its proposed mission against the reality of its practices, the standards by which we measure success versus the qualities that we know actually contribute to an efficient academic community-- is one that is as fraught as it is urgent. Gladwell is one of my favorite journalists, and here he's done a meticulous, well-humored job of evaluating one of our country's most complicated systems. I found his examination of institutional patterns and tendencies to be particularly riveting, especially the ways in which daily collegiate subsistence relies so heavily on the branding of the school itself; this, too, has become an end in itself for the impacts it has on funding, recognition, and exposure. I particularly loved the time he spent with HBCUs, Rowan university, et al and his investigation of how bigger gifts to smaller schools go exponentially further than continuing to expand the already bottomless coffers of the elite and prestigious. A great and timely read!

[Alizée · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was such an interesting book, I'm so glad I listened to it. As a French student, I've always wanted to study in the US, and I was actually in the process of applying to colleges in the us while listening to this audiobook. It totally shifted my perception of US education, where I thought that the best colleges in the rankings just gave the best education. It definitely inspired me, in the future, if I build my own business, to not look too much into the school someone went to, and actually focus on the person. I'm also gonna talk about this subject with people I meet in the future, so I can, on a small scale, bring awareness to this issue.

[Joanna Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Myths of Meritocracy anthology is basically a collection of all the podcasts Gladwell has done on education, with a bit of supplementary material. Investigations into how college rankings are decided, the LSAT, admissions, the effects of desegregation, and college endowments and donations are laid out. Plus a little tangent into an alternative for elections. I don't know enough about these topics to evaluate the points expressed, but they certainly seem like important considerations for anyone involved in higher education.

[Jana Rađa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this on Everand as an audiobook. Given that Malcolm Gladwell's work is typically well-crafted, I decided to give it a try. Although it's based on podcasts and technically not a book, it still offers excellent material and plenty of food for thought. The focus is on the U.S. education system, but since its impacts often extend globally, it's a must-listen for anyone interested in the topic—or just great listening material in general.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Anything Gladwell writes is worth reading. He digs into areas I have never thought about before, and in this instance it is higher education. He tackles the American obsession with status, particularly in education, and how it actually gets in the way of educating the greatest swath and contributors in American society. Great read!

[Shiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoker, a myth buster, a much needed common sense approach to what is ailing the US hiring education. While college costs continues its upward spiral and is out of reach for many, the value for dollars spent for the ones who are fortunate is also questionable. I hope there is a reckoning and a deep look at how to disrupt and revolutionize this industry.

[Anna Leran Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Fantastic narration, super engaging and thought-provoking, but not the kind that makes me put my head go owie owie ouch ow owie ow

I can always turn to Gladwell’s works to get me thinking about the socioeconomic forces at play in viewing the way the world is with a more inquisitive eye.

Can’t wait to read more of his work! Also 5 Yippees for a fellow Canadian!

[Natthaphon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audio book is more like podcast rather than a book. It’s friendly and easy to understand. There are lots of interviews from researchers and students. It’s a critical analysis of US education system but can be applied to others. The story telling makes it very fun. Analogy, Questioning and try some experiments

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 & 1/2
I always enjoy Malcolm Gladwell. This particular focus on the American education system (especially our use of timed tests to measure us) as seen by a Canadian living among us was particularly eye-opening.