Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, we examine differences in educational experiences and in social and economic mobility for youths experiencing poverty relative to their more affluent peers. We also explore the extent to which different educational experiences are associated with greater mobility for students…

The article explores the distinct upward social mobility trajectories of six high-achieving Dalit women in government services in Chennai in south India. Their mobility, primarily driven by education, makes them a very 'select' group given the larger relatively abysmal social, educational and occupational inequality of the Dalits as minority caste…

In a context of universalization of Higher Education (HE) and fragmentation of educational trajectories, consolidating a process of educational and social mobility implies, for many students with non-traditional backgrounds, important identity conflicts. Based on 40 qualitative interviews with non-traditional working-class students enrolled in an…

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…

We use administrative panel data from seven states covering nearly 3 million students to document and explore variation in "academic mobility," a term we use to describe the extent to which students' ranks in the distribution of academic performance change during their public schooling careers. On average, we show that student ranks are…

The recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of all forms of learning outcomes can help individuals to pursue flexible lifelong learning pathways, facilitating their access to a broader range of working and learning opportunities. Recognizing the prior learning of migrants and refugees from diverse backgrounds can also support the…

Traditional research on the role of higher education in intergenerational mobility scrapes the surface of how complex institutional environments contribute to improved socioeconomic outcomes for students. Drawing from economics, sociology, and higher education research, this study interrogates the complexities of the relationship between students…

This article offers a tentative exploration of how working-class students' mobility is affected by the push to enter middle-class careers and lifestyles, and the pull of their working-class origins. Based on a nine-year qualitative longitudinal study of working-class students at a Canadian university, I will show that few study participants…

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…

Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) are colleges and universities across the United States and U.S. Territories enrolling significant percentages of racially minoritized undergraduate students or created with the explicit purpose of serving specific populations of racially minoritized students under various programs created by U.S. Congress (U.S.…

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 article examines the relationship between the upward educational and social mobility processes of young men and women of Moroccan descent in Catalonia, Spain. Through data obtained from two ethnographic research projects and life stories, we analyse and compare the experiences of twenty-four young men and women of Moroccan descent who are…

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…

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…

The transition from university to the graduate labour market has become increasingly competitive. As university degrees no longer offer a guarantee for success, graduates mobilise other forms of capital to gain a competitive advantage. First-in-family and working-class students are seen to be disadvantaged as they lack access to the types of…