Singing the Post-discrimination Blues: Note for a Critique of Academic Meritocracy

This chapter argues that despite the wide-spread institution of gender-blind procedures for appointments and promotions, meritocracy as it operates in academic institutions still fails to realise progressive ideals. Although in certain respects meritocratic systems facilitate women's entry to institutions, they can also serve to validate women's 'failures' to advance in their careers. Arguing from the fact of the persistence of women's minor status in certain disciplinary areas, and taking philosophy as a case-study, the chapter advocates a critique of meritocracy that goes beyond bias in individual judgments to explore systemic and gendered conservatism in the reproduction of disciplinary norms. The chapter contests the possibility of separating ideas of disciplinary 'excellence' from social contexts that include gender inequity, arguing that the assumed disjunction of 'equity' and 'excellence' serves to support an untenable understanding of the 'essence' of a discipline as given independently of the context provided by a gendered academy.