Is our social-status is purely the product of our own actions. How true is this idea and what purpose does it serve?
Social mobility is the amount which an individual in a given society can change their social status, or class, throughout their life. Under modern western capitalism we are told that through hard work, study and dedication we can all become wealthy and successful. Some even go so far as to say that we no longer live under a class system, as our social-status is purely the product of our own actions. How true is this idea and what purpose does it serve?
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Social mobility is the amount which an individual in a given society can change their social status, or class, throughout their life. Under modern western capitalism we are told that through hard work, study and dedication we can all become wealthy and successful. Some even go so far as to say that we no longer live under a class system, as our social-status is purely the product of our own actions. How true is this idea and what purpose does it serve?
Everyone has the right to free education in western capitalist democracies and this is the starting point of the social-mobility myth. Surely if they work
hard at school a working class student has the same opportunities as a bourgeois one. This ignores the fact that the class system is reproduced throughout the entire education system. While students from wealthy backgrounds attend fee-paying primary and secondary schools that can afford smaller classes with better staff and facilities, others are forced to attend run down state schools, which are often overcrowded and understaffed. Add to this the social background of wealthy students which allows them access to more resources and who have less financial and social worries which allows them to focus on their education.
On a practical level if you take a look around the plush campus of St. Andrews in Booterstown or Blackrock College (2 of the most expensive secondary schools in Dublin)...