EqualSoc

Social mobility and educational attainment during the 20th century

The aim is to assess the changes that have occurred over the 20th century in (a) inequality, according to social class, in educational attainment; and (b) the role played by education in the reproduction of social advantage from generation to generation. In the past, the team has achieved goal (a). Now, it will concentrate on goal (b). It will examine the effects of educational expansion and changes in education inequality for social mobility and social fluidity in Europe: In the work so far, it has been established, that in practically all of the countries studied by the team, class inequality in educational attainment has declined in the course of the 20th century. The core issue now is, whether declining class inequality in educational attainment is also responsible for more social fluidity or whether changes in social fluidity result from other developments in education, such as the marked expansion of education, and the corresponding increase in the general level of education. Expansion alone could have been sufficient to generate increased equality in the competition for different class destinations among people coming from different class origins. This is because, in many countries, the influence of class origin on class destination is much weaker among people with high levels of education than among those with low levels. This specific issue will be examined in comparative ways – analytically and with simulation models – along side with analyses of the general role of education for changes across time in social fluidity. The countries to be analysed include France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.