Gendered intergenerational educational mobility patterns converge in the cohort sequence: evidence from Switzerland...

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Social Stratification
• Demography

Background:

• Educational attainment significantly influences life chances and social inequality.
• Social origin strongly correlates with educational success, making mobility patterns a key sociological concern.
• Societal shifts like modernization, educational expansion, and increased female participation impact educational mobility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze changes in absolute and relative intergenerational educational mobility in Switzerland.
• To examine these changes for men and women across birth cohorts from 1951 to 1990.
• To assess the influence of parental education and gender convergence on mobility patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized administrative data from multiple sources for a large sample (N = 556,112).
• Analyzed intergenerational educational mobility by cohort and gender.
• Investigated trends in absolute and relative mobility, and the predictive power of parental education.

Main Results:

• Observed significantly more upward than downward educational mobility, with substantial lateral mobility.
• Decreasing absolute mobility rates are linked to shifts in the parental generation's educational composition.
• A trend toward reduced relative social mobility persists in younger cohorts.
• While fathers' education remains more predictive, mothers' educational impact is increasing.
• Gender convergence in mobility patterns is evident across cohorts.

Conclusions:

• Swiss educational mobility is characterized by more upward than downward movement, but with declining absolute and relative rates.
• Changes in parental educational background are key drivers of decreasing absolute mobility.
• The influence of mothers' education on children's outcomes is growing, contributing to gender convergence in mobility.
• Administrative data offers a powerful resource for social stratification research.