Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Department

Department of Communication Studies

Abstract

This study investigates the ideology of meritocracy through the lens of Upper Canada College (UCC), a prestigious all-boys private school in Toronto, Ontario. UCC promotes a 100 percent university acceptance rate for its students with an International Baccalaureate (IB) curricula and membership to elite private school organizations (Upper Canada College, n.d.). The research uncovers how the institution serves to symbolize and reproduce the social and economic domination of elites in Canada, particularly through the social mobility and power wielded by its alumni, known as the Old Boys. Through examination of neoliberalism’s impact on education, the differences between public and private schools, and themes of meritocracy in the context of education, this paper demonstrates how UCC is representative of the ways elites obfuscate the inequities of power, wealth, and fortune, which in turn aids in its perpetuation. Drawing from Herman’s (1999) traditional ideologies used by power elites to hold dominance, the ways in which themes of public service, masculinity, privilege, elitism, fortuna, and isolation present a formula for the institution and its graduates to perpetuate power is illuminated. By employing narrative analysis, testimonials from Old Boys over four cohorts, ranging from 1919 to 1993, and UCC’s contemporary website were coded thematically, identifying key strategies that serve to reinforce the school’s and its alumni’s elite status. Oftentimes constructed with honourable characteristics of moral virtue, leadership, and hard work, these narratives work to mask underlying inequities that favour those from privileged backgrounds. Findings challenge the validity of meritocracy, arguing that location, socio-economic status, genetics, opportunities, and resources significantly influence one’s upward mobility, instead of merit alone. This work contributes to understanding how elites and institutions use self-representation to establish generous, moral, and admirable personas to society, while sustaining and perpetuating their self-serving power beneath the surface.

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