In recent research, I set out to study how college students in the US—growing up in a country defined by inequality and segregation—learn about their society. I traced beliefs about inequality in 10 cohorts of US college students between 1998 and 2010, totaling 141,597 students across 436 institutions. My findings suggest that the college context deeply shapes students’ understanding of structural inequality and racism.

Historically, colleges have had the mission to educate tomorrow’s leaders about their country’s past and present, the democratic process, and their part in it. They have the potential to broaden perspectives and increase intergroup understanding. Currently, however, a majority of students receive only limited exposure to socioeconomic and racial heterogeneity in the campus environment. As the Supreme Court ends race-conscious admissions, it’s important to consider the consequences for the civic role and equalizing promise of college.

Through recruitment and admission practices, colleges determine the exclusivity and diversity of the place where students learn important lessons about social and racial inequality in the US. In doing so, they shape the development of students’ beliefs about inequality, be it a meritocratic view of success as driven by hard work alone, or a more structural understanding of unequal opportunities as shaped by race and class.

I combined a survey taken before students start college, typically at freshman orientation, and an exit survey taken by those same students in the spring semester of senior year. To see why students change their beliefs in one or the other direction, I paid particular attention to students’ shared living arrangements with a roommate, which can provide a unique lens into the social and material conditions of another person’s life.

Read the full article about meritocracy by Jonathan Mijs at Futurity.