Social Origins, Academic Achievement, and Mobility Channels: Sponsored and Contest Mobility Among College Graduates

Abstract

The study is concerned with determining the significance of achievement and ascriptive factors in the career mobility of college graduates. Data gathered from a national sample of <it>150</it> organizations and <it>4,000</it> engineers and managers indicate the continued operation of both social origins and academic achievement on the postcollege career. It is clear, however, that there is an independent influence of origins and achievement on these careers. The importance of school-organizational factors is also evident. With the continuing expansion in higher education it remains to be seen whether these influences upon mobility will contribute to a more open class structure or to the emergence of new class-based hurdles.