Is meritocracy not so bad after all? : educational expansion and intergenerational mobility in 40 countries

VAN DE WERFHORST, Herman G.

doi:10.1177/00031224241292352

Is meritocracy not so bad after all? : educational expansion and intergenerational mobility in 40 countries

dc.contributor.author	VAN DE WERFHORST, Herman G.
dc.date.accessioned	2024-11-20T08:40:00Z
dc.date.available	2024-11-20T08:40:00Z
dc.date.issued	2024
dc.description	Published online: 19 November 2024	en
dc.description.abstract	In the face of continued socioeconomic inheritance, the belief that the simple expansion of educational opportunities will create meritocratic societies has been met with skepticism. It is well documented that within expanding educational systems, class-advantaged families attempt to secure further advantages for their offspring. Conversely, for many, the modernist belief that educational expansion is a means to achieving a fairer society remains compelling. Studying trends in intergenerational occupational mobility in 40 countries from four continents, I examine whether educational expansion enhances occupational mobility, and whether such trends are counteracted by heightened persistence between social origin and destination within education groups. The results indicate that educational expansion over time, and the policies supporting it, are linked to improved intergenerational occupational mobility. Furthermore, this increased mobility through expanded educational opportunities is not negated by a strengthening of within-education elite persistence in occupational status, suggesting that occupational mobility patterns can genuinely change through educational expansion. The modernist ideology around educational expansion as a driver of social mobility may warrant renewed attention.	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	American sociological review, 2024, OnlineFirst	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1177/00031224241292352
dc.identifier.issn	0003-1224
dc.identifier.issn	1939-8271
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77485
dc.language.iso	en	en
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dc.publisher	Sage	en
dc.relation.ispartof	American sociological review	en
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess	en
dc.rights.license	Attribution 4.0 International	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	*
dc.title	Is meritocracy not so bad after all? : educational expansion and intergenerational mobility in 40 countries	en
dc.type	Article	en
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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