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What are the effects of decreasing social mobility? How does education help - and hinder - us in improving our life chances? Why are so many of us stuck on the same social rung as our parents? Apart from the USA, Britain has the lowest social mobility in the Western world. The lack of movement in who gets where in society - particularly when people are stuck at the bottom and the top - costs the nation dear, both in terms of the unfulfilled talents of those left behind and an increasingly detached elite, disinterested in improvements that benefit the rest of society. This book analyses cutting-edge research into how social mobility has changed in Britain over the years, the shifting role of schools and universities in creating a fairer future, and the key to what makes some countries and regions so much richer in opportunities, bringing a clearer understanding of what works and how we can better shape our future.
Featured in the Financial Times Best Books of the Year 2020 The evidence is rigorously marshalled and the...solutions equally clearly illuminated. A definitive study. - Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times In this vital new book, Britain′s first Professor of Social Mobility Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin, reveal the causes of the UK’s low social mobility, explain why it′s getting worse, and outline how we reverse this worrying trend, before it’s too late. It covers the history of social mobility in the UK, explores international comparisons, analyses the recent ‘dark age’ of declining absolute mobility, and investigates issues such as how family traits affect inter-generational mobility. The authors then outline what it is we should do about this pressing issue. Calling for a fundamental shift in debates about social mobility and arguing that only by establishing general principles of fairness in society can we agree the major policy reforms that can make Britain a more mobile and just society for all.
From the authors of the Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit comes What Works?, a must-read guide that summarises the research and hard evidence of what works and what doesn't in primary and secondary classrooms, and provides practical strategies for transforming pupils' progress. Lee Elliot Major and Steve Higgins look at common teaching approaches, including raising aspirations, improving behaviour, outdoor learning and parental engagement. They present the research and evidence behind each approach and provide practical steps for best practice in the classroom to boost the learning and life outcomes of all pupils. Explored in a concise, accessible manner, the research and eviden...
An examination of how we use the term 'dyslexia' and how this may undermine aid for struggling readers.
Politicians continually tell us that anyone can get ahead. But is that really true? This important, best-selling book takes readers behind the closed doors of elite employers to reveal how class affects who gets to the top. Friedman and Laurison show that a powerful 'class pay gap’ exists in Britain’s elite occupations. Even when those from working-class backgrounds make it into prestigious jobs, they earn, on average, 16% less than colleagues from privileged backgrounds. But why is this the case? Drawing on 175 interviews across four case studies – television, accountancy, architecture, and acting – they explore the complex barriers facing the upwardly mobile. This is a rich, ambitious book that demands we take seriously not just the glass but also the class ceiling.
Evidence-informed teaching is essential for effective teaching, but it is important to understand its limitations as well as its benefits.
'Intensely readable... A stimulating and necessary redress' David Kynaston, Spectator Politicians say social mobility is real... this book proves otherwise. From servants' children who became clerks in Victorian Britain, to managers made redundant by the 2008 financial crash, travelling up or down the social ladder has been a fact of British life for more than a century. Drawing on hundreds of personal stories, Snakes and Ladders tells the hidden history of how people have really experienced that social mobility in both directions. It shows how a powerful elite on the top rungs have clung to their perch, as well as introducing us to the unsung heroes who created more room at the top. As we face political crisis after crisis, Snakes and Ladders argues that only by creating greater opportunities for everyone to thrive can we ensure the survival of our society. 'A fascinating, important book' Mail on Sunday 'A trove of stories of human hope and disappointment' New Statesman 'Fascinating... A rich and well-observed historical account' Financial Times
From the authors of the Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit comes What Works?, a must-read guide that summarises the research and hard evidence of what works and what doesn't in primary and secondary classrooms, and provides practical strategies for transforming pupils' progress. Lee Elliot Major and Steve Higgins look at common teaching approaches, including raising aspirations, improving behaviour, outdoor learning and parental engagement. They present the research and evidence behind each approach and provide practical steps for best practice in the classroom to boost the learning and life outcomes of all pupils. Explored in a concise, accessible manner, the research and eviden...
Meritocracy today involves the idea that whatever your social position at birth, society ought to offer enough opportunity and mobility for ‘talent’ to combine with ‘effort’ in order to ‘rise to the top’. This idea is one of the most prevalent social and cultural tropes of our time, as palpable in the speeches of politicians as in popular culture. In this book Jo Littler argues that meritocracy is the key cultural means of legitimation for contemporary neoliberal culture – and that whilst it promises opportunity, it in fact creates new forms of social division. Against Meritocracy is split into two parts. Part I explores the genealogies of meritocracy within social theory, poli...
The belief that with hard work and determination, all children have the opportunity to succeed in life is a cherished part of the American Dream. Yet, increased inequality in America has made that dream more difficult for many to obtain. In Too Many Children Left Behind, an international team of social scientists assesses how social mobility varies in the United States compared with Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Bruce Bradbury, Miles Corak, Jane Waldfogel, and Elizabeth Washbrook show that the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged American children and their more advantaged peers is far greater than in other wealthy countries, with serious consequences for their future ...