Crawford, Claire, Gregg, Paul, Macmillan, Lindsey, Vignoles, Anna and Wyness, Gill (2016) Higher education, career opportunities, and intergenerational inequality. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 32 (4). pp. 553-575. doi:10.1093/oxrep/grw030

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Abstract

The UK government has expressed a desire to increase social mobility, with policies to help achieve this aim focused on reducing inequalities in educational attainment. This paper draws together established and new information about the contribution that higher education can make to social mobility using a life-course approach, considering differences by family background in terms of university attendance and achievement, as well as occupation and earnings following graduation. We find substantial socio-economic differences at each stage. Young people from poorer backgrounds are, on average, less likely to go to university than their richer peers. Even among the selected group who do go to university, they are less likely to attend the highest status institutions, less likely to graduate, and less likely to achieve the highest degree classes. These differences in degree outcomes contribute to the lower average earnings of graduates from poorer families, but earnings differentials go well beyond those driven purely by degree attainment or institution attended. The evidence strongly suggests that, even after taking these factors into account, graduates from affluent families are more likely to obtain a professional job and to see higher earnings growth in the labour market. We discuss the implications of these findings for the prospects of higher education as a route to greater social mobility.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Education, Higher -- Great Britain, Social mobility -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title:	Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0266-903X
Official Date:	13 October 2016
Dates:	Date Event 13 October 2016 Published 17 October 2016 Modified
Date of first compliant deposit:	21 October 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access:	24 October 2016
Volume:	32
Number:	4
Page Range:	pp. 553-575
DOI:	10.1093/oxrep/grw030
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC),
Grant number:	ES/K005804/1, ES/L000105/1

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