Who Gets the Top Jobs? The Role of Family Background and Networks in Recent Graduates’ Access to High-status Professions

• Published in: Journal of social policy Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 487 - 515
• Main Authors: MACMILLAN, LINDSEY, TYLER, CLAIRE, VIGNOLES, ANNA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.07.2015
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Arbeitsmarktchance; Athletic recruitment; Berufliche Stellung; Colleges and universities; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Employers; Employment; Fachkraft; Familie; Families & family life; Family; Family Roles; Führungskraft; Graduates; Großbritannien; Higher education; Hochschulabsolvent; Kinship Networks; Labor market; Longitudinal studies; Major, John, 1943; Neighborhoods; Networks; Occupations; Parents & parenting; Power; Prime Ministers; Private Schools; Professions; Schools; Social background; Social networks; Social policy; Social sciences; Soziale Herkunft; Sozialer Status; Soziales Netzwerk; Students; Universities; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0047-2794; 1469-7823; 1469-7823
• DOI: 10.1017/S0047279414000634

There is currently debate in policy circles about access to ‘the upper echelons of power’ (Sir John Major, ex Prime Minister, 2013). This research explores the relationship between family background and early access to top occupations. We find that privately educated graduates are a third more likely to enter into high-status occupations than state educated graduates from similarly affluent families and neighbourhoods, largely due to differences in educational attainment and university selection. We find that although the use of networks cannot account for the private school advantage, they provide an additional advantage and this varies by the type of top occupation that the graduate enters.