Theory of social mobility I •Social mobility is the movement of people up or down the stratification system. •Class systems allow for more movement than slave or caste systems. •Intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility. •While class systems do allow for social mobility, opportunities are not evenly distributed across social groups • •Social origin class/actual social class position have a significant impact on many aspects of life, including education, occupation, place of residence, marriage partner, and more •Against to economic liberal view of social world • • 1 An important characteristic of class systems, as opposed to slave or caste systems, is that in class-based systems of stratification, there is the opportunity for social mobility. This means that people and groups can, potentially, move up or down in the rankings, and this is seen by many as a significant benefit of class systems. In reality, however, such mobility is less common than our national mythology suggests. Typically, those who arrive at high positions have families who either had high positions themselves or the resources to provide the appropriate education for advancement. Achieving upward mobility is very difficult, and the wonderful stories we’ve all heard and seen (think, for example, of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness) are so very moving because they are the exception, not the norm. If such stories were common, they would not get our attention in nearly the same way. Theory of social mobility II •Loss aversion - psychological concept •Those who now occupy managerial and professional positions will do all they can to protect their children from falling down the social ladder. • •To pay for the best pre-school provision •To buy houses in areas with high-performing state schools •To hire private tutors, and arrange educationally enriching experiences • •All human behavior can be interpreted from the point of social position reproduction in time • Theory of social mobility III •People may move up or down the social ladder within their lifetime or from one generation to the next. • •Everyone has the same chance of moving up is what lies behind the idea of equality of opportunity. • •Social mobility can relate to an individual’s life opportunities or opportunities in relation to parents (intergenerational) •ISO – inequality of social opportunity - definition •IEO – inequality of educational opportunity - definition • • • Inequality of opportunity •Indicated by social mobility • •Trends in European countries •From agriculture to industry: industrial societies •From industry to services: post-industrial societies •These trends are reflected in structural social mobility trends • •But no changes in social fluidity (relative social mobility) •Odds ratios are the same •Three factors that influence pattern of social fluidity •desirability •bariers •resources • • 4 4 An important characteristic of class systems, as opposed to slave or caste systems, is that in class-based systems of stratification, there is the opportunity for social mobility. This means that people and groups can, potentially, move up or down in the rankings, and this is seen by many as a significant benefit of class systems. In reality, however, such mobility is less common than our national mythology suggests. Typically, those who arrive at high positions have families who either had high positions themselves or the resources to provide the appropriate education for advancement. Achieving upward mobility is very difficult, and the wonderful stories we’ve all heard and seen (think, for example, of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness) are so very moving because they are the exception, not the norm. If such stories were common, they would not get our attention in nearly the same way. Social mobility - measurement -Social mobility indicates „societal openness“ - -Aggregated data and mobility tables -Social classes -Resources, barriers, desirability -Mobility paths -Macro-level of social analysis -The first and third generation of SSR - -Individual data and path analysis -Social statuses, employment, socioeconomic indexes -Aspirations, motivations -Social variables influence labor market positions -Micro-level of social analysis -Second generation of SSR Structural and net mobility I -Social Mobility = structural mobility + net mobility - -Structural (forced) mobility is given by -economic and technological changes -demographic changes (class difference in fertility, mortality, migration…) - -Net mobility is real mobility -how different class origins influenced destinations -inequality in mobility chances stems from differences in: -class resources -class bariers -class desirabilities - -Identification structural mobility by Dissimilarity index Structural and net mobility II -Problems in identification structural mobility by DI -two class structures are incomparable because of „career mobility“ -„age problem“ in SM research - -Many efforts to empirically identify net mobility with the help of „mobility indexes“ -no proper way -Solution: change in conceptualization of intergenerational mobility -Social origin vs. social destination (SO - SD) (no intergenerational mobility) - -Structural and Exchange mobility are replaced by concepts absolute and relative mobility -It is not possible to measure structural and exchange mobility in data ex post - -Contingency table: Father, Son and The Holy Ghost (the core of mobility table) (R. Erikson, J. Golthorpe: Constant Flux, 1992) Mobility table -Intergeneration and intragenerational mobility -Social reproduction -Upward and downward social mobility -long distance, short distance Outflow mobility -calculation of percentages in rows -interpretation I: of all men originating in class Y, X% moved into class Z -interpretation II: the probability of a man born into class Y, moving into class Z, was X% - - Inflow mobility -calculation of percentages in columns -interpretation: X% of all men in class Y came from class Z -social composition of classes, „social heterogeneity“ 11 Absolute and relative social mobility I •Absolute mobility is chance of ending up in a different social class from the one a person was born into. • Usually the movements are often small: from class 2 to 1, say, or from class 5 to 6. •Measured in percent (%) • •Relative mobility is chance, if a person started in, say, class 6 or 7, of making it to, say, class 1 or 2 compared with those who started at the top. •It is an answer to the question: if a person starts at the bottom, how many times less likely to make it to the top than somebody born there •Measured in odds ratios (OR) • 12 Is America Dreaming?: Understanding Social Mobility •YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XFh_tD2RA • • • • • • Social mobility - politicians •“I want to see social mobility rising once again,” said prime minister Tony Blair in 2004 •“We can unleash the biggest wave of social mobility since the second world war,” said prime minister Gordon Brown in 2010. •“I want to see a more socially mobile Britain,” said David Cameron in 2013. •“I want Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy,” said Theresa May in 2016. • •Why does social mobility happen? •Two general factors that influence social mobility 1.Level of inequality 2.Exogenous and endogenous factors •Exogenous, structural factors, absolute mobility •Endogenous, individual factors, relative mobility • Level of inequality I - GGC •What is the relatioship between inequality and social mobilty? •Aggregated level – Great Gatsby Curve •Higer economic inequality means lower social mobility and vice versa •Inequality generates less opportunities, low social mobility •GGC: Great Gatsby Curve • • • 14 14 An important characteristic of class systems, as opposed to slave or caste systems, is that in class-based systems of stratification, there is the opportunity for social mobility. This means that people and groups can, potentially, move up or down in the rankings, and this is seen by many as a significant benefit of class systems. In reality, however, such mobility is less common than our national mythology suggests. Typically, those who arrive at high positions have families who either had high positions themselves or the resources to provide the appropriate education for advancement. Achieving upward mobility is very difficult, and the wonderful stories we’ve all heard and seen (think, for example, of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness) are so very moving because they are the exception, not the norm. If such stories were common, they would not get our attention in nearly the same way. Level of inequality II - GGC •How does GGC work in individual level? • • Exogenous factors I •Demographic, economic, political factors •Contextual dependent •Differences between countries •level of industrialization •technological and economic trends • •Changes in social class structure •Changes in the proportions of social classes •Changes in numbers of people in classes vs changes in class positions of people •Changes in classholders vs changes in social mobility 17 •Birth cohort replacement, education, equalization and compositional effect in social mobility (Breen, Johnson, 2007) •Labour market = birth cohorts (APC differences) •Cohort replacement •Argument: in each younger cohort we can measure higher social fluidity (lower OD association) •Why? Connections: O - E – D triangle •Equalization effect •Compositional effect • •This argument is relevant for stable democratic society „under normal circumstances“ Example of exogenous factors Endogenous factors •Inner mobility regime •Contextual independent •Similar in all countries •Level of social fluidity is the same over countries – red queen effect •Similar factors that influence social fluidity •Sociological theories •Social vs. cultural reproduction (glass ceiling vs. sticky floor) •Theory of rational action (Goldthorpe, 1996; 2000), the aim is to avoid of social decrease, because of that strong orientation for social reproduction, especially in educational aspiration that are stratified according to social origin •Theory of cultural capital is a tool for reproduction of class position via educational system (Bourdieu, Passeron, 1964; 1977) 19 Cultural capital: definition •Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron (1966, 1970, 1977) •Analysis of French society (1960s and 1970s) •Formulation of concept of cultural capital as a part of family origin of students • •Cultural capital is ‘skill’ acquired from parents •Cultural knowledge (orientation in dominant culture) •Linguistic abilities (ways of self-expressions) •Social knowledge (orientation in social relationships) • •Cultural capital exists in three ways •incorporated (personal dispositions acquired during socialization process) •objectivized (cultural artefacts connected with family of origin, pictures, books, sculptures) •institutionalized (academic titles, scientific degrees) 20 Cultural capital: explanation of class inequalities in education •Educational system evaluates the level of cultural capital •Transformation of cultural capital to individual merit of children •Children with high level of cultural capital are better in school and leave educational system later •Children with low level of cultural capital are not so good, their school results are worse and leave educational system very soon • •Parents from higher social classes are connected with school via dominant culture, which means the success of their children in educational system • •Differences in cultural capital generate social class differences in education attainment 21 Pierre Bourdieu on social reproduction •La Sociologie est un sport de combat •YT: https://youtu.be/js_fVKBL5NA • • • • • 23 Educational expansion in the CR in last 20 years 24 Educational expansion in the CR in last 20 years II •What does educational expansion mean for transition to labour market? •Can we talk about the inflation of diploma/certificates? •If yes, is it good strategy to invest to education and increase number of young people in universities? •What happens with returns to higher education? •In status consistency society they should be higher and increase •Yes, returns to higher education increase • •