SOC 260 Social Mobility

Social mobility

The change in a person’s status or socioeconomic circumstances

• Either in relation to their parents or throughout their lifetime

• moving to a lower or higher status

Intragenerational mobility

Mobility within a lifetime

• A person’s change in social or economic status within an individual’s lifetime 

Intergenerational mobility

Mobility across generations

• extent to which a person’s or family’s social and economic position changes compared to their parents’ or previous generations’ positions 

Horizontal mobility

A change that moves an individual into a new position that is of the same status as their previous position

• changing jobs or locations without altering one’s overall social status, power, economic standing

Exchange mobility 

Individuals or groups move between social classes or positions, but the overall number of people in those classes remains relatively stable, as if there’s a trading of positions within a system

• Upward mobility that replaces one occupant of a position with another occupant (circulation mobility)

• People who occupy lower positions in the hierarchy must wait for a vacancy before they can advance up the ladder

Structural mobility

The movement in the status hierarchy that does not require displacing the occupant of a position 

• entirely based on social/economic environment

• Due to broad societal and economic changes, rather than individual effort 

• The mobility made possible by creating more positions, typically through organizational or economic growth

Downward mobility

The movement of individuals or groups from their current economic or social status to a lower one 

• intra + intergenerational occurrence 

Beliefs about social mobility: Up or Down?

• upward mobility is balanced by downward mobility

• Beliefs typically focus on upward mobility when defining social mobility 

Beliefs about social mobility: self or society?

People infer their personal chances of social mobility, in part, from mobility patterns in society more broadly

Beliefs about social mobility: expected or experienced?

People mostly focus on expected social mobility (that which has yet to occur) rather than experienced social mobility (that which has already occurred) 

Social mobility comparison

Most Canadians perceive themselves as doing better than their parents

• but this is declining over the years

• Age and education, drastically alter this 

factors affecting social mobility: economic growth

The increase in the production of goods and services in a society, creating new jobs and new customers for these good and services

• If only happening for higher class; middle class to experience downward mobility 

factors affecting social mobility: life conditions

Growing up in a supportive and stable environment can enhance one’s chances of benefiting from education and achieving success 

• discrimination against minorities and other marginalized groups can block their chances for success 

factors affecting social mobility: workforce segmentation

The division of the workforce into sections according to skill, pay, or employee demographics

• primary vs secondary labour market

• More workers working in conditions with no opportunity for advancement

Career mobility

Intra- and intergenerational job transitions over the duration of an individual’s career

Canadians with disabilities + career mobility

Barriers to career mobility:

1. Occupational issues 

2. Discrimination 

3. Disclosure and accommodation 

4. Employment services & transportation 

5. Self limiting behaviours; lack of confidence + less likely to apply for a position 

6. Access to education 

Education & social mobility

Academic performance alone doesn’t predict access to education levels

• higher status families tend to “hoard” educational opportunities 

Downward educational mobility decreases self rated health among women, but not for men

Downward income mobility decreases self rated health for both men + women 

• upward income mobility increases self rated health among men, but not for women (double job labour) 

Effect of upward mobility: Theory of dissociation

Both upward and downward mobility may be dissatisfying since they both disrupt people’s social relations

• the beneficial effects of mobility are at a high psychologist cost 

• Upward is often marked by the threat of social exclusion + feeling like an imposter; loss of forming relationships in new environment 

Effect of upward mobility: easterlin paradox 

Social comparison is key to people’s subjective well-being 

• people tend to be happier when they perceive themselves as doing better than those around them, regardless of their upward or downward mobility 

Causes of downward mobility: achieved status 

A result of poor achievement 

• social position attained through individual actions or skills

• Nothing assigned to us at birth

• E.g: failing to complete secondary school

Causes of downward mobility: ascribed status

A social position that a person is given at birth or assumes involuntarily later in life, which they have little to no control over 

• A result of failing to possess social characteristics

Cause of downward mobility: gig economy

A series of temporary or short term arrangements between workers and their employers 

• work that is “precarious”, uncontrollable, and unpredictable 

Gig workers:

• spend little time on one job 

• Take other jobs at the same time 

• Spend time between jobs without an income 

• Spend a lot of time searching for new paid jobs 

Effects of downward mobility: categorical fate

Recognizing that downward mobility is reflective of membership in a victimized group 

• belief in the “culture of meritocracy” influences degree of self blame 

• Social mobility may disrupt a person’s sense of coherence or even lead to “hidden injuries” 

Homophily

People’s desire to associate with others who share their own background, beliefs, values, and attitudes

• Includes space and location; similar demographic 

Argued to foster a sense of safety + belongingness within the group, establishing social relationships and perhaps enhancing upward mobility 

Argued to be a barrier for the social integration of marginalized groups, negatively impacting upward mobility 

• potential for institutional completeness; increasing upward mobility for marginalized groups despite exclusion from dominant group 

Institutional completeness

The extent to which an ethnic community provides its members with the full range of social services from within its own ethnic structures rather than relying on the host society’s institutions 

• Establishing a range of services that align with an ethnic culture, language, or norms 

Heterophily

The tendency of individuals to collect in diverse groups

• creates connections between different groups and leading to the exchange of diverse information + ideas within social networks 

• UK study found that low income children with cross class friendships earn 38% more as adults than those without 

Immigrant Mobility

Many first generation immigrants in Europe and North America experience downward mobility when they migrate

• unrecognized credentials 

• Language barrier 

Rate of integration varies considerably based on ethnicity or country of origin 

• 2nd generation of any immigrant group usually improves substantially on its parents’ generation

Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP)

Helps skilled refugees and other displaced people immigrate to Canada

• waives/covers fees and provides access to the immigration loans program 

• Federal + regional streams (federal 2025 cap has been reached)

There’s work experience, education, and language requirements 

• Settlement funds also required if applying to the federal stream without a job offer; enough money to support self and/or family 

Social mobility in Canada 

Canada’s rate of upward mobility is not the highest in the world 

• upward income mobility in Canada is far lower than in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway 

The Great Canadian Class Study 

Most Canadians see themselves as middle class (42%)

• weak attachment to social class identity

Strong belief in meritocracy (advancement based ability, talent, and achievement)

• shapes beliefs in social mobility

Hard work, education, personal ambition: top for most important aspect for success

Large differences in childhood experiences depending on parents’ social class

Lower class is associated with lower income, lower education, lower odds of owning a home, and less satisfaction with healthcare

Visualizing upward mobility in 2040

Theorized that social mobility will have changed in 6 key ways

1. Post-secondary education 

2. Housing 

3. Intergenerational wealth 

4. Social siloing: people rarely mix with others of different socio-economic status 

5. Aspirations + expectations 

6. AI 

Workforce segmentation

Many jobs are separated into distinct categories, with limited crossover from one category to another

• people usually move up within their own area of work rather than by switching to an entirely different sector

Self initiated expatriate (SIE)

Someone who wants to work overseas, only plans to stay there for a short time, and has professional or skilled training 

• may include higher pay, a chance for job progress, new experiences, an improvement in general well-being 

• Physical + mental costs related to moving 

• Loss of familiar social relations 

Career Satisfaction

• higher salaries are likely to keep people in their careers

• Having a mentor increases the likelihood of staying

• Many employees are pushed out by their employers

Friendliness is not a critical element

Objective career success has a negative influence on life satisfaction outside work

Pitrim Sorokin’s theory of Dissociation

Proposes that both upward and downward mobility may be dissatisfying since they both disrupt people’s social relations

• viewed upwardly mobile people as potentially isolated and lonely; lost the ability to form satisfactory personal relationships in their new environment (high psychological cost)

• Reduced intimacy and increases loneliness

Excorporation 

Forced retirement from the elite 

• means more than formal dismissal

• Robs them of their power and personal dignity 

Complete: being forced into the non elite mass, to lead a life that is invisible, unnoticed, powerless, and disrespected 

Excarceration 

Removal from ruling political bodies 

Decapitalization 

Another form of elite downward mobility 

• may deprive the elite person of their political; turning them into an empty suit with no power and no assistance 

• May relegate the person to insignificance in the ex elite zone 

Internal labour market (ILM)

An administrative system within an organization where hiring, promotion, and wages are governed by internal rules, procedures, and a job hierarchy