Summary/Abstract |
The role played by educational credentials in British labour market recruitment changed radically during the mid-twentieth century. Having higher or better credentials than others became a key determinant in selection for society's best-paid jobs. The resulting race for them has had perverse effects. A large minority of graduates earn no more than non-graduates or are in jobs for which they are ‘overeducated’. In various ways, the incentive to ‘stay ahead’ has prompted large expenditures by families to improve the qualifications a child obtains at school, while there is also now huge demand for postgraduate qualifications. Not only is there resulting social waste but also social injustice; while education was understood previously as a means of breaking down barriers to social mobility, it now has the opposite effect. This article explores the causes of these developments and outlines briefly how a new centre-left agenda for education might be constructed.
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