Structural Stratification in Higher Education and the University Origins of Political Leaders in Eight Countries

• Published in: Sociological forum (Randolph, N.J.) Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 974 - 999
• Main Authors: Zarifa, David, Davies, Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wayne Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2018
• Subjects: College graduates; Colleges & universities; cross‐national studies; Educational systems; elites; Higher education; Nationalist movements; Political elites; political leaders; Political leadership; Political parties; Realignment; Recruitment; Stratification; structural inequality; Voters; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US
• ISSN: 0884-8971; 1573-7861
• DOI: 10.1111/socf.12467

Are political leaders "educationally representative" of their electorates? Because almost all national-level political leaders are university graduates, this question increasingly centers on whether they attended a select number of highly ranked domestic institutions. This study examines international variations in the concentration of universities attended by political leaders by analyzing publicly available information on all 524 national party leaders from the past century in eight countries: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, and Sweden. Our analyses reveal four major findings. First, the university origins of political elites are most concentrated in the UK and United States, whose higher education systems are highly stratified. Second, British and American leaders were most likely to attend world top-ranked universities than leaders from any other countries. Third, our results uncover a realignment between elite universities and party ideology in recent decades, as leaders of left-wing parties become more likely to attend elite universities than their right-wing counterparts. In conclusion, we theorize connections between higher education and elite recruitment, and suggest directions for future research that can utilize a broader range of nations and societal sectors.