Counter-mobility

Girod, Roger; Fricker, Yves; Körffy, Andras

doi:10.1177/053901847201100511

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…But from related research (Bukodi, 2016) we know that individuals of more advantaged class origins are more likely than those of less advantaged origins to obtain additional academic rather than vocational qualifications in later life, and especially if they have some experience of downward mobility; and further that it is improvement in academic rather than vocational qualifications that is chiefly associated with upward worklife mobility into positions in the salariat. In other words, later-life education appears as a way of compensating for poor levels of initial attainment, not so much for individuals from less advantaged origins who can thus improve their chances of upward intergenerational mobility, but rather for those from more advantaged origins who, through 'counter-mobility' (Girod 1971;Girod et al, 1972), can thus improve their chances of maintaining their parents' class position.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Direct Effect of Social Origins on Social Mobility Chances: ‘Glass Floors’ and ‘Glass Ceilings’ in Britain

Gugushvili

Bukodi

Goldthorpe

2017

European Sociological Review

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In this article we pursue, using appropriate British birth cohort data, various issues that arise from recent research into the 'direct' effect of social origins on individuals' social mobility chances: i.e. the effect that is not mediated by education and that can be seen as giving rise to non-meritocratic 'glass floors' and 'glass ceilings'. We show that if educational level is determined at labour market entry, class destinations are significantly associated with class origins independently of education. However, we go on to investigate how far the direct effect may be underestimated by an insufficiently comprehensive treatment of social origins, and also how far it may be overestimated by a failure to take into account the effects of later-life education and resulting changes in individuals' relative qualification levels. Finally, having arrived at our best estimates of the extent of the direct effect, we seek to identify factors that mediate it. While individuals' cognitive ability and sense of locus of control prove to play some part, reported parental help in the labour market does not appear to be of any great importance. Some implications of our findings both for further research and for the ideal of an education-based meritocracy are considered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Direct Effect of Social Origins on Social Mobility Chances: ‘Glass Floors’ and ‘Glass Ceilings’ in Britain

Gugushvili

Bukodi

Goldthorpe

2017

European Sociological Review

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“…In this case, one could suppose that a strong motivation will exist to pursue further education and training (Goldthorpe, 2007) – with family resources and other forms of support then being drawn on to increase the chances of success. In this case, the ‘Matthew effect’ would be expressed in the form of what has been called ‘counter-mobility’ (Girod et al , 1972) whereby advantages deriving from social origins operate over the life-course so as to enable initial downward movement to be reversed.…”

Section: Further Education and Intergenerational Social Mobility: Twomentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative Inequalities over the Life-Course: Life-long Learning and Social Mobility in Britain

Bukodi

2016

J. Soc. Pol.

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This paper examines the possibility that life-long learning promotes intergenerational class mobility. The following two research questions are asked. Is it the case that further education provides individuals coming from less advantaged origins with a second chance to improve on their educational attainment? Is it the case that the returns to further qualifications, in terms of chances of upward class career mobility, are greater for children from less advantaged backgrounds than for children from more advantaged backgrounds? The analyses -that are based on the complete educational and class histories of men and women in a British birth cohort -mainly produce negative findings. Children coming from managerial and professional backgrounds seem to benefit most from further education. More specifically, further education appears to be an effective means of career advancement for individuals of managerial and professional origins who start out in their working lives in relatively low-level class positions. Via further education they can increase or update their qualifications, and in turn enhance their chances of being counter-mobile back to their class of origin. Overall, based on the findings of this paper, we can conclude that qualifications attained through life-long learning primarily serve to maintain, rather than to narrow, inequalities attached to social origins in Britain.

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“…Compared to parents who achieved upward mobility into professional-managerial occupations, intergenerationally stable parents in advantaged class positions might have more resources (e.g., financial wealth and social contacts) to pass on to their children. Similarly, compared to second-generation working-class parents, parents who experienced downward mobility to the working class might be better positioned, or perhaps more motivated, to help their children achieve upward counter-mobility (Girod, Fricker, and Körffy 1972). For instance, Jackson and Marsden's (1962:67-70) study of children attending academically selective grammar schools in early postwar Britain found that more than a quarter of students from nominally working-class backgrounds were in fact from families better described as "sunken middle class," possessing notably higher than average material and cultural resources.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Grandparents Effect in Social Mobility

Chan

Boliver²

2013

Am Sociol Rev

156

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Using data from three British birth cohort studies, we examine patterns of social mobility over three generations of family members. For both men and women, absolute mobility rates (i.e., total, upward, downward, and outflow mobility rates) in the partial parents-children mobility tables vary substantially by grandparents' social class. In terms of relative mobility patterns, we find a statistically significant association between grandparents' and grandchildren's class positions, after parents' social class is taken into account. The net grandparents-grandchildren association can be summarized by a single uniform association parameter. Net of parents' social class, the odds of grandchildren entering the professional-managerial class rather than the unskilled manual class are at least two and a half times better if the grandparents were themselves in professional-managerial rather than unskilled manual-class positions. This grandparents effect in social mobility persists even when parents' education, income, and wealth are taken into account.

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Counter-mobility

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

The Direct Effect of Social Origins on Social Mobility Chances: ‘Glass Floors’ and ‘Glass Ceilings’ in Britain

The Direct Effect of Social Origins on Social Mobility Chances: ‘Glass Floors’ and ‘Glass Ceilings’ in Britain

Cumulative Inequalities over the Life-Course: Life-long Learning and Social Mobility in Britain

The Grandparents Effect in Social Mobility

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