This paper draws on an oral history project which focuses on former coalminers' experiences of education and training. It presents the stories of five participants, all of whom undertook significant programmes of post-compulsory education during or immediately after leaving the coal industry and achieved a degree of social mobility over the course…

This article examines social mobility at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) near the U.S.-México border. It critiques the institution's strategic plan and how it falls short of helping its students achieve social mobility with intentionality. It provides a breakdown of how the social mobility index is measured and how the institution's metrics…

For much of its modern history, the notion of talent has been associated with the idea of 'careers open to talent'. Its emancipatory promise of upward social mobility has radically transformed the distribution of advantaged social positions and has had a lasting influence on the very idea of social status itself. Nevertheless, unlike concepts…

The contribution of spoken language to outcomes for education and beyond, including attainment, wellbeing and empowerment is long-established and has recently become more prominent under the title of oracy, often conceptualised as learning both to and through talk. Part of the renewed interest in oracy is due to its potential for driving social…

In recent years, social status has been re-conceptualized as a unique and dynamic social identity that shapes motivational processes, guiding pursuits of status-related goals. Therefore, social status is not a static social positioning, but instead a developing construct that informs cognitions and behaviors, particularly during status…

To offer the greatest value to society, the next government needs to deliver a single, strategic approach to research, innovation and higher education so that universities can be better in a decade than they are today. This report offers recommendations to better universities by: (1) supporting students to succeed; (2) putting universities at the…

Gypsy, Roma and Travellers (GRT) are a highly marginalised UK higher education minority with patchy targeted policy interventions. Drawing on qualitative interview data with education professionals working with GRT and with GRT young people, families and activists, the article compares attitudes, expectations, and desires around higher education.…

The effects on social mobility of stratifying pupils into different educational pathways have been debated for decades. We intervene in this debate by showing that stratification in secondary schooling is multidimensional. The extent of "differentiation" into separate tracks is distinct from "hierarchy" between tracks. To…

Although actual experiences of upward social mobility are historically low, many adolescents and adults express a "belief" in social mobility (e.g., that social status can change). Although a belief in upward mobility (e.g., that status can improve) can be helpful for economically disadvantaged adolescents and adults, a belief in upward…

In this Narrative Inquiry, we share the stories of three Chinese rural students who grew up in a southeastern county in China before moving to the county seat for high school. By inviting our participants to read their own life, we aimed to understand how Chinese rural students make sense of their experience in an exam-centered school system that…

In Britain, the opportunity to succeed is still heavily shaped by your socio-economic background -- the social and economic circumstances that you grew up in. As the 2024 General Election fast approaches, the Sutton Trust's "Fair Opportunity for All" is a roadmap for the next government, exploring how they can break the link between…

The influence of the International Baccalaureate (IB) has grown impressively on a global scale. In Latin America, the IB has been mainly introduced in private schools that cater for the most affluent sectors of society and, consequently, has been mostly interpreted as contributing to processes of social reproduction and the widening of…

In this thought-provoking book, acclaimed cultural critic and professor of literature Richard Ohmann and noted critical scholar and pedagogue Ira Shor challenge the widely accepted notion of the "college premium": the economic advantage associated with obtaining a college degree. The authors show how the idea of a college premium is…

This study's goal was to explore how new learning cultures might capture the many new needs of the retail industry sector and how apprentices can be trained for future work. Due to the inductive nature of this study, we found a rather implicit but important role of vocational education and training in retail that promotes the social advancement of…

Historically, there remains an underrepresentation of Black women in and en route to the highest levels of organisational leadership. The divide is all the more pronounced in the field of education, one in which women represent a large share of the community. Particularly relevant for Black women is the incongruence between their heightened…