Doctoral Thesis
A critique of neoliberal meritocracy, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) and its impact on students: A critical realist case study
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Murdoch University
2024
Abstract
The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a standardised academic rank, that determines upper-secondary-school students’ direct-entry placement into tertiary courses. As a competitive two-year, pathway, the ATAR fosters an environment where academic success is too easily equated with personal worth. Through the prism of a narrowly conceived, instrumentalist sorting process, students face significant pressure as they strive to meet competitive expectations. Juxtaposed against the broader neoliberal meta-narrative of standardised reforms in the Australian education context, this thesis aims to invoke urgency in the need to imagine a more holistic education for young people.
This multimethod critical realist case study engages Foucauldian neoliberal critique to examine how the ATAR pathway functions as a mechanism of neoliberal governance. Through a critical realist methodological process of structural and contextual explication, this study traces the causal connections that exist between global education reform and the experiences of 10 ATAR students, in a Western Australian (WA), Independent Public School (IPS) context. By establishing links between IPS policy-enactment and students’ experiences, I sought to discern whether the collective meanings they attributed to the ATAR bore traces of the meritocratic ideological discourse that dominates this setting.
My critical analysis of group discussions suggest that these students internalised the self-regulatory, teleological aspirations of meritocracy. Responsibility-taking in particular featured in students’ dialogue, exuding meritocratic worth. A series of one-on-one interviews further revealed that these aspirations not only inhibited students’ imaginable futures they also plagued their narratives, in which cultural and familial expectations were incessant. Concerning levels of stress and other adverse psychological experiences were clearly prolific for these students. These narratives arguably implicate the negligence of this meritocratic system. In order to uphold the interests of students, the inculcation of meritocratic ideals, needs to be replaced by a paradigm capable of acknowledging and honouring the complexities of their lives.
Details
- Title
- A critique of neoliberal meritocracy, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) and its impact on students: A critical realist case study
- Authors/Creators
- Nina L Rovis-Hermann
- Contributors
- Barry Down (Supervisor)Brianne Hastie (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Psychology
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Identifiers
- 991005717669107891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Education
- Resource Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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