Social Mobility of University Graduates: Which Pathways Lead Upwards?

At the present work using data from the longitudinal study of the National Research University Higher School of Economics “Trajectories in Education and Careers”, authors studied the relationship between the trajectories of university graduates and their chances for social mobility. Authors assessed, which characteristics of the path taken in education and the labor market by the age of 25 are associated with upward mobility. Using Blau and Duncan’s status attainment model, the movement from prescribed family status to attained status was analyzed. Two measures were used to assess status: subjective social status and financial status.

Graduates by age 25 were most likely to have reproduced parental status, with the majority reproducing middle status, as measured by both subjective social status and financial status. The chances of upward mobility were significantly higher for university graduates who had had time to accumulate the most work experience by age 25. At the same time, the completion of a Master’s degree and prolonged studies, which do not allow for full-time employment, proved to be a risk factor for maintaining the prescribed status. Socio-economic and gender inequalities were also observed: male graduates and those from more educated families had significantly higher chances of upward social mobility. As a result, it was factors unrelated to education (work and socio-demographic factors), that proved to be significant for the success of graduates.

1. Sorokin, P.A. (1927). Social Mobility. New York: Harper and Brothers. 559 p. Available at: https://books.google.ru/books?id=9ZnZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR3&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed: 09.10.2024).

2. Varlamova, T.A., Gokhberg, L.M., Zorina, O.A. (2024). Obrazovanie v tsifrakh: 2024 : kratkii statisticheskii sbornik [Education in Numbers: 2024 : A Short Statistical Collection] Moscow: ISIEZ VShE, 132 p. Available at: https://issek.hse.ru/mirror/pubs/share/969714030.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ.).

3. Vanke, A.V., Vasil’eva, N.Yu., Golenkova, Z.T., Epikhina, Yu.B., Polukhina, E.V., et al. (2017). Sotsial’naya mobil’nost’ v Rossii: pokolencheskii aspekt [Social Mobility in Russia: Generational Aspect]. Moscow: Institut sotsiologii RAN, 384 p. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_27722222_10055978.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ.).

4. Mareeva, S.V. (2022). The Social Status of Russian Youth: Ideas and Reality. Vestnik instituta sotziologii = Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. Vol. 13, no. 2., pp. 158-183, doi: 10.19181/vis.2022.13.2.800 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

5. Epikhina, Yu.B., Mastikova, N.S., Popova, I.P., Terin, D.F., Chernysh, M.F. (2018). Mnogomernaya sotsial’naya mobil’nost’ v sovremennoi Rossii [Multidimensional Social Mobility in Modern Russia]. Moscow: Institut sotsiologii RAN, 112 p. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_36529315_63836800.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ.).

6. Zudina, A.A. (2013). Informal Employment and Subjective Social Status: The Case of Russia. Ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya = Journal of Economic Sociology. Vol. 14, no.3, pp. 27-63, doi: 10.17323/1726-3247-2013-3-27-63 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

7. Mareeva, S., Slobodenyuk, E., Anikin, V. (2022). Support for Reducing Inequality in the New Russia: Does Social Mobility Matter? Intersections. Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 175-196, doi: 10.17356/ieejsp.v8i2.782

8. Dudyrev, F., Romanova, O., Travkin, P. (2020). Student Employment and School-to-Work Transition: The Russian Case. Education and Training. Vol. 62., no. 4, pp. 441-457, doi: 10.1108/ET-07-2019-0158

9. Rozhkova, K.V., Roshchin, S.Yu., Solntsev, S.A., Travkin, P.V. (2023). The Differentiation of Quality in Higher Education and Graduates’ Wages in Russia. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 1, pp. 161-190, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2023-1-161-190 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

10. Rozhkova, K., Roshchin, S., Travkin, P. (2024). From Combining Study and Work to Combining Work and Study? The Changing Model of Russian Higher Education. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 2, pp. 286-322, doi: 10.17323/vo-2024-17242 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

11. Lukina, A.A., Maltseva, V.A., Rozenfeld, N.Ya. (2024). Subjective Social Mobility of University Graduates. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological Studies. No. 1, pp. 109-124, doi: 10.31857/S0132162524010109 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

12. Aisenbrey, S., Fasang, A. E. (2010). New Life for Old Ideas: The “Second Wave” of Sequence Analysis Bringing the “Course” Back Into the Life Course. Sociological Methods & Research. Vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 420-462, doi: 10.1177/0049124109357532

13. Monaghan, D. (2020). College-Going Trajectories Across Early Adulthood: An Inquiry Using Sequence Analysis. The Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 402-432, doi: 10.1080/00221546.2019.1647584

14. Cherednichenko, G.A. (2016). Rossijskaya molodezh’: ot obrazovaniya k trudu (na materialah sociologicheskih issledovanij obrazovatel’nyh i professional’nyh traektorij) = Russian Youth: from Education to Work (on the materials of sociological studies of educational and professional trajectories). St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo RHGA, 392 p. Available at: https://www.isras.ru/files/File/publ/Cherednichenko_ross_molod_2016.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

15. Fasang, A.E., Mayer, U.K. (2020). Chapter 3: Lifecourse and Social Inequality. Handbook on Demographic Change and the Lifecourse, pp. 22-39, doi: 10.4337/9781788974875.00009

16. Zhou, Y. (2023). Work Trajectories and Status Attainment Process: A Study Using Sequence Analysis. The Journal of Chinese Sociology. Vol. 10, no. 1, doi: 10.1186/s40711-022-00180-3

17. Huang, S., Hou, J., Sun, L., Dou, D., Liu, X., Zhang, H. (2017). The Effects of Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Subjective Well-Being among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: The Moderating Role of Subjective Social Mobility. Frontiers in Psychology. Vol. 8, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00819

18. Milesi, C. (2010). Do All Roads Lead to Rome? Effect of Educational Trajectories on Educational Transitions. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. Vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 23-44, doi: 10.1016/j.rssm.2009.12.002

19. Rozinskaya, N.A., Drobyshevskaya, T.A. (2022). Quantitative Estimates of Intergenerational Mobility. Zhurnal Novoi ekonomicheskoi assotsiatsii = Journal of the New Economic Association. Vol. 5, no. 57, pp. 93-111, doi: 10.31737/2221-2264-2022-57-5-6 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

20. Chetty, R., Grusky, D., Hell, M., Hendren, N., Manduca, R., Narang, J. (2017). The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940.. Science. Vol. 356, no. 6336, pp. 398-406, doi: 10.1126/science.aal4617

21. Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., Saez, E. (2014). Where Is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 129, no. 4, pp. 1553-1623, doi: 10.1093/qje/qju022

22. Rozhkova, K.V., Roshchin, S.Yu., Solntsev, S.A., Travkin, P.V. (2021). The Return to Master’s Degree in the Russian Labor Market. Voprosy Ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. Vol. 8, pp. 69-92, doi: 10.32609/0042-8736-2021-8-69-92 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

23. Causa, O., Johansson, Е. (2009). Intergenerational Social Mobility. OECD Economics Department Working Papers. No. 707, doi: 10.1787/18151973

24. Iversen, V., Krishna, A., Sen, K. (2019). Beyond Poverty Escapes–Social Mobility in Developing Countries: A Review Article. The World Bank Research Observer. Vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 239-273, doi: 10.1093/wbro/lkz003

25. Brown, P., Souto-Otero, M. (2020). The End of the Credential Society? An Analysis of the Relationship between Education and the Labour Market Using Big Data. Journal of Education Policy. Vol. 35. no. 1, pp. 95-118, doi: 10.1080/02680939.2018.1549752

26. Emelina, N.K., Rozhkova, K.V., Roshchin, S.Yu., Solntsev, S.A., Travkin, P.V. (2022). [Graduates of Higher Education in the Russian Labor Market: Trends and Challenges]. In: XXIII Yasinskoi (Aprel’skoi) mezhdunar. nauch. konf. po problemam razvitiya ekonomiki i obshchestva [XXIV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development]. Moscow: Izd. dom Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki, 160 p. Available at: https://publications.hse.ru/pubs/share/direct/588955762.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ.).

27. Robert, P., Saar, E. (2012). Learning and Working: The Impact of the “Double Status Position” on the Labour Market Entry Process of Graduates in CEE Countries. European Sociological Review. Vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 742-754, doi: 10.1093/esr/jcr091

28. Heglum, M.A. (2023). Transformed ‘Postmodern’ Life Courses? Continuity and Change in Young Adults’ Labour Market Trajectories in Norway. European Sociological Review. Pp. 1-17, doi: 10.1093/esr/jcad043

29. Zimmermann, O., Konietzka, D. (2018). Social Disparities in Destandardization-Changing Family Life Course Patterns in Seven European Countries.. European Sociological Review. Vol. 34, pp. 64-78, doi: 10.1093/esr/jcx083

30. Parreira do Amaral, M., Tikkanen, J. (2022). Governing the Life Course through Lifelong Learning: A Multilevel and Multidimensional View. Societies. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 84-84, doi: 10.3390/soc12030084

31. Widmer, E.D., Ritschard, G. (2009). The De-Standardization of the Life Course: Are Men and Women Equal? Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 28-39, doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2009.04.001

32. Kiryushina, M.A., Rudakov, V.N. (2024). The Role of Higher Education in the Formation of the Gender Inequality in the Labor Market. A Review of Russian and International Literature. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 2, pp. 75-110, doi: 10.17323/vo-2024-17588 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

33. Kalabikhina, I.E., Shaikenova, Zh.K. (2019). An Estimation of Household Time Transfers within Households. Demograficheskoe obozrenie = Demographic Review. Vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 36-65, doi: 10.17323/demreview.v5i4.8662 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

34. Colley, H. (2007). Understanding Time in Learning Transitions Through the Lifecourse. International Studies in Sociology of Education. Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 427-443, doi: 10.1080/09620210701667103

35. Poplavskaya, A.A., Soboleva, N.E. (2017). Men’s and Women’s Satisfaction with Various Job Aspects in Russia. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny = Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. No. 5, pp. 271-288, doi: 10.14515/monitoring.2017.5.15 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

36. Misra, J., Strader, E. (2013). Gender Pay Equity in Advanced Countries: the Role of Parenthood and Policies. Journal of International Affairs. Vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 27-41. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/24461670 (accessed: 09.10.2024).

37. Cools, S., Strøm, M. (2016). Parenthood Wage Penalties in a Double Income Society. Review of Economics of the Household. Vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 391-416, doi: 10.1007/s11150-014-9244-y

38. Bogdanov, M.B., Malik, V.M. (2020). Social, Territorial and Gender Inequalities in Educational Trajectories of the Russian Youth. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny = Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. No. 3, doi: 10.14515/monitoring.2020.3.1603 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)

39. Lucas, S.R. (2001). Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects. American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 106, no. 6, pp. 1642-1690, doi: 10.1086/321300

40. Zagirova, F.R., Romanenko, K.R., Makar’eva, A.Yu. (2019). “And we are so different”. Academic Heterogeneity of Students: Analysis, Perceptions, Practices.. Sovremennaya analitika obrazovaniya = Modern Educational Analytics. No. 4(25), pp. 4-32. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_41508927_39962136.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

41. Breen, R., van de Werfhorst, H.G., Jæger, M.M. (2014). Deciding under Doubt: A Theory of Risk Aversion, Time Discounting Preferences, and Educational Decision-making. European Sociological Review. Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 258-270, doi: 10.1093/esr/jcu039

42. Yastrebov, G., Kosyakova, Y., Kurakin, D. (2018). Slipping Past the Test: Heterogeneous Effects of Social Background in the Context of Inconsistent Selection Mechanisms in Higher Education. Sociology of Education. Vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 224-241, doi: 10.1177/0038040718779087

43. Malinovskii, S.S., Shibanova, E.Yu. (2022). Access to Higher Education in Russia: How to Turn Expansion into Equality. Sovremennaya analitika obrazovaniya = Modern Educational Analytics. No. 7(67). Available at: https://ioe.hse.ru/pubs/share/direct/803809237.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

44. Britton, J., Lorraine, D., Shephard, N., Vignoles, A. (2016). How English Domiciled Graduate Earnings Vary with Gender, Institution Attended, Subject and Socio-Economic Background. IFS Working Papers W16/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/output_url_files/wp201606.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024).

45. Maltseva, V.A., Rozenfeld, N.Ya. (2022). Educational and Career Trajectories of the Russian Youth in a Longitudinal Perspective: A Case of University Graduates. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 3, pp. 99-148, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2022-3-99-148. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

46. Symeonaki, M., Stamatopoulou, G. (2020). On the Measurement of Positive Labor Market Mobility. SAGE Open. Vol. 10, no. 3, doi: 10.1177/2158244020934489

47. Ritschard, G. (2023). Measuring the Nature of Individual Sequences. Sociological Methods & Research. Vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 2016-2049, doi: 10.1177/00491241211036156

48. Kolegova, I.E., Roshchina, Ya.M. (2021). [Millennials and Their Parents: A Comparison of Subjective Social Statuses]. Vestnik Rossiiskogo monitoringa ekonomicheskogo polozheniya i zdorov’ya naseleniya NIU VShE [Bulletin of RLMS-HSE]. Vol. 11, pp. 122-152, doi: 10.19181/rlms-hse.2021.3 (In Russ.).

49. Tikhonova, N.E. (2021). Intergenerational Reproduction of Professional Statuses and Class in Modern Russian Society. Voprosy teoreticheskoi ekonomiki = Theoretical Economics. No. 2, pp. 61-78, doi: 10.52342/2587-7666VTE_2021_2_61_78 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

50. Auzan, A.A. (2013). University Mission: From an Economist’s Perspective. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 3, pp. 266-287, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2013-3-266-286 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

51. Becker, G.S. (1962). Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis. The Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 70, no. 5, pp. 9-49, doi: 10.1086/258724

52. Hahn, S. (2016). Intergenerational Downward Mobility in Educational Attainment in Germany: Summary of the Main Results and Conclusions. In: The Risk of Downward Mobility in Educational Attainment. Springer VS, Wiesbaden, pp. 157-169, doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-14598-9_8

53. Lorentzen, T., Bäckman, O., Ilmakunnas, I., Kauppinen, T. (2019). Pathways to Adulthood: Sequences in the School-to-Work Transition in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Social Indicators Research. Vol. 141, no. 3, pp. 1285-1305, doi: 10.1007/s11205-018-1877-4

54. Bol, T., Van de Werfhorst, H.G. (2013). The Measurement of Tracking, Vocational Orientation, and Standardization of Educational Systems: A Comparative Approach. AIAS, GINI Discussion Paper. No. 81, 63 p. Available at: https://www1feb-uva.nl/aias/81-3-3-1.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024)

55. Kosyakova, Yu., Yastrebov, G., Yanbarisova, D., Kurakin, D. (2016). [The Reproduction of Social Inequality in the Russian Educational System]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsial’noi antropologii = The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology. Vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 76-97. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_29304953_32370583.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

56. Kovalenko, M., MortelmanDoes Career Type Matter? Outcomes in Traditional and Transitional Career Patterns.Does career type matter? Outcomes in traditional and transitional career patterns. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 85, no. 2, pp. 238-249, doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2014.07.003

57. Prakhov, I.A. (2015). Barriers Limiting Access to Quality Higher Education in the Context of the USE: Family and School as Constraining Factors. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 1, pp. 88-117. Available at: https://publications.hse.ru/pubs/share/folder/77gub0xl3h/147327077.pdf (accessed: 09.10.2024) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

58. Khavenson, T.E., Chirkina, T.A. (2019). Student Educational Choice after the 9th and 11th Grades: Comparing the Primary and Secondary Effects of Family Socioeconomic Status. Zhurnal issledovanii sotsial’noi politiki = The Journal of Social Policy Studies. Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 539-554, doi: 10.17323/727-0634-2019-17-4-539-554 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

59. Duta, A., Wielgoszewska, B., Iannelli, C. (2021). Different Degrees of Career Success: Social Origin and Graduates’ Education and Labour Market Trajectories. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 47, article no. 100376, doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2020.100376

60. Maloshonok, N., Shcheglova, I., Vilkova, K., Abramova, M. (2022). Gender Stereotypes and the Choice of an Engineering Undergraduate Program. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 3, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2022-3-149-186 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

61. Cheng, S. (2014). A Life Course Trajectory Framework for Understanding the Intracohort Pattern of Wage Inequality. American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 120, no. 3, pp. 633-700, doi: 10.1086/679103