U.S. studies have found that stratified graduate education accounts for most of the relatively strong intergenerational socioeconomic association among postgraduate degree holders. The same association has been observed, but not explained, in countries with higher education systems that differ from that of the United States. We explore the…

The college-educated are more likely to vote than are those with less education. Prior research suggests that the effect of college attendance on voting operates directly, by increasing an individual's interest and engagement in politics through social networks or human capital accumulation. College may also increase voting indirectly by leading…

Scholars question whether cultural capital reproduces existing inequalities or leads to upward mobility. While families provide opportunities to increase cultural capital, schools value and reward cultural capital. Thus, adolescents need to obtain cultural capital through their families to be able to navigate the education system. However, most…

This study examines same-sex siblings' educational mobility using high-quality register data from Norway. The study explores how the educational level of younger siblings varies with the education of parents and firstborn siblings. Younger siblings are generally more likely to attain the same education as the eldest. Even though the distance and…

Based on interviews with sixty- one working- class men in rural Pennsylvania, this article explores the ways in which rural, working- class men do--and do not--seek to improve their labor- market positions by getting additional education or training, moving, or taking gender- atypical jobs. The evidence presented shows that men are making many…

It has long been known that Italy is characterized by the highest levels of professional regulation in Europe, but little attention has been given to the link between professional regulation and educational stratification. This article investigates the association between social origins and education by focusing on fields of study within tertiary…

The effects on social mobility of stratifying pupils into different educational pathways have been debated for decades. We intervene in this debate by showing that stratification in secondary schooling is multidimensional. The extent of "differentiation" into separate tracks is distinct from "hierarchy" between tracks. To…

Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10-21. We explore the potential…

This study examines the relationship between cultural capital and students' higher education (HE) expectations among six major origins of international students in U.S. HE institutions, using PISA 2018 data--the only cycle that measured global competence and related indicators of cultural capital. Through logistic regression analysis, it explores…

This study aims to explore the extent of intergenerational social mobility in the United States for the population as a whole, as well as differentiated by gender and race/ethnicity. Study of intergenerational social mobility is important because it shows whether individuals can prosper in a society regardless of their socioeconomic background, as…

Social mobility, and in particular, intergenerational mobility, can be driven by increased opportunities for extended education. Movement beyond a family's social class will often see positive changes to overall life satisfaction, however, this movement can introduce feelings of alienation. This in turn can lead to detachment either from the…

Using the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY), this article examines the influence of a region's industrial composition on the educational attainment of children raised by parents who do not have college degrees. The NLSY's geo-coded panel allows for precise measurements of the local industries that shaped the parents' employment…

This report looks at the progress made during secondary school of young people from different backgrounds who were in the top third of attainers at the end of primary school. High attaining pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds have the best chance of becoming socially mobile, and "Social Mobility: The Next Generation" will explore,…

Rurality is known to be associated with a number of weaker educational outcomes, from lower attainment through to lower social mobility. This is why so much policy and practitioner focus has been directed at addressing the rurality gap in educational outcomes. In this paper, we use pupil-level data for Scotland to contribute to two dimensions of…

This international, phenomenological study involved marginalised individuals who completed higher education despite their socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Two subsamples included first-in-family college graduates; 16 Roma professionals in the Czech Republic and 29 Native American academics across the United States. Due to the…