{"id":8687,"date":"2026-07-21T10:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?p=8687"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:02:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:02:04","slug":"why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Friedman<\/a><\/p>\n

The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia.<\/p>\n

But according to Academy of Management Scholar Emilio Castilla<\/a> of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, building a true meritocracy is far more demanding than it sounds. It requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we try to implement meritocracy in practice, we need to recognize that managers often have different ideas of what merit means,\u201d Castilla explains. \u201cThose judgments are shaped by preferences, assumptions, and even biases, which makes it difficult to apply standards of merit consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than treating judgments as an individual failing, Castilla emphasizes the need for organizational leaders to take responsibility for identifying organizational solutions to eliminate biases and inefficiencies in merit definition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI argue for interventions at the organizational level,\u201d he says. \u201cFocusing only on individuals and assuming the talent management system is neutral will not solve the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

In practice, this means examining how decisions are made\u2014and where bias and inefficiencies may enter\u2014through careful use and analysis of talent management data.<\/p>\n

Castilla stresses that organizations should systematically track patterns in recruitment, hiring, evaluation, and promotion: \u201cSolutions to unfair treatment of candidates and employees due to biases begin with collecting good data on the way that executives and managers are making hiring and promotion decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to look closely at these key talent management processes,\u201d he says. \u201cWho applies? Who gets hired? Who performs well? Who gets promoted? These patterns allow you to identify where disparities may emerge and whether\/where interventions are most needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such analysis, he argues, is essential to ensuring that meritocratic systems actually function as intended: \u201cThere is no meritocracy without equal opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Castilla warns that even well-intentioned efforts to promote meritocracy can produce unintended consequences\u2014a dynamic he calls the \u201cmeritocracy paradox.\u201d He cites a set of experiments he conducted with Stephen Benard of Indiana University in which managers were asked to allocate bonuses under different organizational conditions. One group of managers was tasked with deciding on bonuses for an organization with a standard annual performance review. Another group of managers was tasked with allocating bonuses for an organization that strongly valued meritocracy in decision-making.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe managers in the \u2018meritocratic condition\u2019 actually gave, on average, lower bonuses to women who had the same level of performance as men,\u201d Castilla says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmphasizing meritocracy created a false sense of fairness. It made managers less likely to question their own decisions and more likely to let gender biases influence their bonus decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, invoking meritocracy can sometimes reduce scrutiny rather than increase it, contributing to unfairness and biases.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can give managers a kind of cover,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, it is not enough to emphasize meritocracy rhetorically. You need to monitor the process carefully and design systems that ensure it is working as intended, rather than reinforcing or even introducing inequities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pursuit of meritocracy is much more difficult than it first appears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Friedman The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But according to Academy of Management Scholar Emilio Castilla of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,72,74,77],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[842],"class_list":["post-8687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversity","category-ethics","category-hr","category-pay"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But building a true meritocracy is far more demanding than it sounds. It requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Friedman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul Friedman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1\"},\"headline\":\"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T10:00:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":542,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"DIVERSITY\",\"ETHICS\",\"HR\",\"PAY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy - Academy of Management Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T10:00:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1\"},\"description\":\"The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But building a true meritocracy is far more demanding than it sounds. It requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Building a true meritocracy requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice. Source: Shutterstock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academy of Management Today\",\"description\":\"Smarter, faster business news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1\",\"name\":\"Paul Friedman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/PFriedman-img.webp5e9b6dc66164f7cee57794da0837bc84\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/PFriedman-img.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/PFriedman-img.webp\",\"caption\":\"Paul Friedman\"},\"description\":\"Paul Friedman is a journalist who worked for 45 years at the three major news networks. He began as a writer and reporter and then became a producer of major news broadcasts, including Nightly News and the Today show at NBC, and World News Tonight with Peter Jennings at ABC. He also served as Executive VicePresident of News at ABC and CBS. Later, he taught journalism as a professor at Columbia University, New York University, and Quinnipiac University. Friedman is now semi-retired and lives with his wife in Florida.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\\\/\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/paul-friedman-3b98b153\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/paul-friedman\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy - Academy of Management Today","description":"The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But building a true meritocracy is far more demanding than it sounds. It requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Friedman","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/"},"author":{"name":"Paul Friedman","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1"},"headline":"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy","datePublished":"2026-07-21T10:00:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/"},"wordCount":542,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["DIVERSITY","ETHICS","HR","PAY"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/","name":"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy - Academy of Management Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-21T10:00:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1"},"description":"The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But building a true meritocracy is far more demanding than it sounds. It requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Building a true meritocracy requires sustained attention and responsibility\u2014and transparency\u2014around a simple question: how each organization defines and evaluates merit in practice. Source: Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-putting-the-merit-in-meritocracy-isnt-easy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Putting the Merit in Meritocracy Isn\u2019t Easy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/","name":"Academy of Management Today","description":"Smarter, faster business news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/c798773d2b2b451f04d76dea2233ddd1","name":"Paul Friedman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PFriedman-img.webp5e9b6dc66164f7cee57794da0837bc84","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PFriedman-img.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PFriedman-img.webp","caption":"Paul Friedman"},"description":"Paul Friedman is a journalist who worked for 45 years at the three major news networks. He began as a writer and reporter and then became a producer of major news broadcasts, including Nightly News and the Today show at NBC, and World News Tonight with Peter Jennings at ABC. He also served as Executive VicePresident of News at ABC and CBS. Later, he taught journalism as a professor at Columbia University, New York University, and Quinnipiac University. Friedman is now semi-retired and lives with his wife in Florida.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paul-friedman-3b98b153"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/paul-friedman\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":842,"user_id":14,"is_guest":0,"slug":"paul-friedman","display_name":"Paul Friedman","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PFriedman-img.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PFriedman-img.webp"},"author_category":"1","first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Friedman","user_url":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/","job_title":"Managing Editor, AOM Today, Academy of Management","description":"Paul Friedman is a journalist who worked for 45 years at the three major news networks. He began as a writer and reporter and then became a producer of major news broadcasts, including <em>Nightly News<\/em> and the <em>Today<\/em> show at NBC, and <em>World News Tonight<\/em> with Peter Jennings at ABC. He also served as Executive VicePresident of News at ABC and CBS. Later, he taught journalism as a professor at Columbia University, New York University, and Quinnipiac University. Friedman is now semi-retired and lives with his wife in Florida."}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-350x450.jpg",350,450,true],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/African-businesswoman-meeting-interview-assessment-discussion-employee-onboarding-recruitment-HR-hiring-team_cropped-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Paul Friedman","author_link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/paul-friedman\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/diversity\/\" rel=\"category tag\">DIVERSITY<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/ethics\/\" rel=\"category tag\">ETHICS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/hr\/\" rel=\"category tag\">HR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/pay\/\" rel=\"category tag\">PAY<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By Paul Friedman The recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which the Trump administration has fueled, has led many organizations to focus on meritocracy as the goal in hiring and promotion across private-sector businesses, government agencies, and academia. But according to Academy of Management Scholar Emilio Castilla of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8687"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9152,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8687\/revisions\/9152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8687"},{"taxonomy":"sp_smart_badges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sp_smart_badges?post=8687"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=8687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}