Premium
Social origin, field of study and graduates’ career progression: does social inequality vary across fields?[Note 6. The authors gratefully acknowledge the participants in the 1970 ...]
Author(s) -
Jacob Marita,
Klein Markus
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12696
Subject(s) - social mobility , occupational prestige , status attainment , prestige , life course approach , social class , life chances , inequality , social stratification , educational attainment , demographic economics , social inequality , occupational mobility , perspective (graphical) , social status , cohort , sociology , psychology , socioeconomic status , demography , social science , political science , social psychology , economic growth , economics , medicine , population , philosophy , mathematics , artificial intelligence , law , mathematical analysis , linguistics , computer science
Research on stratification and mobility has consistently shown that in the UK there is a direct impact of social origin on occupational destination net of educational attainment even for degree‐holders. However, only a few studies applied a longitudinal and dynamic perspective on how intergenerational mobility shapes graduates’ working careers. Using multilevel growth curve modelling and data from the 1970 British cohort study (BCS70), we contribute to this research by looking at the emergence of social inequalities during the first ten years since labour market entry. We further distinguish between graduates of different fields of study as we expect social disparities to develop differently due to differences in initial occupational placement and upward mobility processes. We find that parental class does not affect occupational prestige over and above prior achievement. Separate analyses by the field of study show that initial differences in occupational prestige and career progression do not differ between graduates from different classes of origin in STEM fields, and arts and humanities. It is only in the social sciences that working‐class graduates start with lower occupational prestige but soon catch up with their peers from higher classes. Overall, our results indicate no direct effect of social origin on occupational attainment for degree‐holders once we broaden our focus to a dynamic life course perspective.