The path from social origins to top jobs: social reproduction via education

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive account of the way in which cognitive and educational attainment mediate the link between social origins and elite social class destinations in mid-life. Using the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), we assess the roles of a range of pathways through which educational advantage may lead to occupational attainment: cognitive development; private and selective secondary schools; school level qualifications; and higher education, including institution and field of study. Whereas past research has shown a residual direct effect of social origins on class destinations, we find that, once a sufficiently detailed picture of educational attainment is taken into account, education fully explains the link between social origins and top social class destinations. In contrast, the gap between men and women in achieving top social class positions is in no part accounted for by education.

Social origin, field of study and graduates’ career progression: does social inequality vary across fields?

“…We did not find a substantial direct effect of social origin on graduates’ average occupational attainment throughout ten years after labour market entry. This finding is in line with previous results on UK graduates using the same dataset (e.g., most recently, Sullivan et al , ). However, when we looked more closely at the effect of social origin on occupational prestige at different stages of the career, that is, extending previous snapshot analyses with a dynamic approach, our illustration of career patterns showed a slight disadvantage of working‐class offspring compared to graduates from the higher social origin at labour market entry.…”

“…The Blau–Duncan model already emphasized the importance of dynamic modelling and career progression for intergenerational mobility processes. However, many studies applied cross‐sectional analyses to examine the direct effect of social origin on (graduates’) labour market destination using population samples (e.g., Laurison and Friedman ; Wakeling and Savage ), considered outcomes at particular points in time during the career (Britton, Shephard, Vignoles and Dearden ; Crawford and Vignoles ; Macmillan, Tyler and Vignoles ) or at specific ages (Crawford et al ; Gugushvili, Bukodi and Goldthorpe ; Sullivan et al , ).…”

“…Several studies provide empirical evidence for differences between graduates from different fields of study in various labour market returns such as occupational prestige (Katz‐Gerro and Yaish ; Shwed and Shavit ), class position (Sullivan et al ) or earnings (Kim, Tamborini and Sakamoto ; Laurison and Friedman ; Sullivan et al ). Existing research commonly uses ‘snapshot’ measures at labour market entry or a particular age.…”

Elite universities, fields of study and top salaries: Which degree will make you rich?

“…We found that individuals who grew up in high‐income families had a greater chance of making it into the top 5% than those from lower‐income families, taking into account all other factors. In contrast to our previous findings regarding social class (Sullivan et al ., ), this suggests a direct path from family income to individual income, not mediated by education. Similarly, even at the same level of educational attainment, individuals who had attended private secondary schools were advantaged.…”

The contribution of intersectionality to quantitative research into educational inequalities

“…The reason for considering both vertical and horizontal inequalities is that both are associated with life chances. Across the world, grades and qualifications strongly influence individuals’ opportunities in the labour market, leading to higher earnings, higher chances of entering more prestigious occupations and higher employment rates (Barone & Van de Werfhorst, ; Sullivan et al., ), as well as structuring individuals’ lives in a range of other important ways (see Pallas, ). However, it is becoming clear that subject choices also shape these outcomes.…”