Education remains a key tool for social mobility, especially for lower-class students, and policies like scholarships and academic support programs are crucial. Yet, it’s unrealistic to think education alone can fix inequality.
The social elevator of education isn’t working, the social elevator has stopped, it’s broken, it’s malfunctioning. The popular metaphor of a “broken social elevator” in education indicates that education systems are no longer fostering social mobility. However, this focus on the elevator – and education alone – misses a deeper issue: the structure of the building that houses it.
Over the past decades in Europe, more people have stepped onto the educational elevator, with university degrees becoming widespread. However, the number of high-skilled jobs hasn’t grown at the same pace. This mismatch leads to overqualification, with around one in four young degree holders (ages 20-34 in 2023) now working jobs that don’t require their level of education.
What’s more, for upper-class students, the elevator never really stops. Even with poor academic performance, most manage to complete their education, supported by their families through private tutoring or easier access to private schools and universities. This safety net for the privileged, known as compensatory advantage, ensures they rise, even if their grades don’t.
A complementary phenomenon, known as boosting advantage, occurs in case of good academic performance. In that case high-achieving students from privileged backgrounds tend to secure better-paying jobs than their equally talented peers from lower-income families. Therefore, the elevator for upper-class students doesn’t go down when they’re underperforming, and it allows them to rise higher, in terms of salaries, when they excel.
The true barrier to mobility lies in the broader social and economic framework, not just the educational system. Moreover, the equalising function of the education system clashes with families’ priority of providing the greatest possible advantage for their descendants.
Education remains a key tool for social mobility, especially for lower-class students, and policies like scholarships and academic support programs are crucial. Yet, it’s unrealistic to think education alone can fix inequality. Families of higher status are adept at maintaining their advantage, and meritocracy often falters in the face of entrenched privilege. Fixing the social elevator won’t resolve these structural issues.
We should instead ask ourselves: Do we want to live in a society where social classes are distant from each other, or in one where the distance between them is smaller, with more shared spaces? Addressing inequality requires bold policies that reshape the entire structure, not just the pathways of education. Only by rethinking the foundation of our society – through job creation and progressive fiscal policies – can we build a more just future for everyone.
This article is based on this post by Fabrizio Bernardi, first published on Population Europe.