Multidimensional social mobility and educational strategies in the UK

ABSTRACT Recent studies of social mobility inspired by Pierre Bourdieu have sought to move beyond the traditional focus on vertical movement between big classes. Drawing on his language of capitals and social space, and spotlighting access to and differences within the elite, they have demonstrated mobility to be both multidimensional and fine-grained. This paper seeks to synthesise and broaden these developments, taking the UK as its case study. It uses data from the Labour Force Survey from 2021 to 2023 and a multidimensional class scheme to examine absolute rates of vertical, horizontal and diagonal mobility as well as relative odds and pathways of entry to fractions of the higher class linked to social origins. While the results confirm the importance of how much capital one starts with for limiting vertical mobility, they also reveal clear differences according to the preponderant type of capital people start with, as well as gender and ethnicity, that indicate specific strategies of social reproduction and ascent. I finish by calling for a consolidation and elaboration of a Bourdieusian research programme on social mobility.