The ‘Class Ceiling’ is a research project that examines how a person’s social and economic background affects his or her ability to get to the top of Britain’s professions. The privileged ones with advantaged class backgrounds tend to have better career trajectories, possible courses of action, and support available to them. The metaphor of “following wind” captures the idea of the force of privilege that helps one move forward easily, and also the opposite – where the wind seems to be against those trying to be upwardly mobile. It takes those from the bottom a lot longer – and more effort – to climb up the social ladder.
The key issue of privilege seems to be that the following wind is misread as merits, and inequalities that result from it are normalised. It leads to the scenario where those who have had privilege believe that they have legitimately earned it; while those who are not so privileged blame themselves for the lack of achievement.
Politicians use this meritocracy narrative as a tool to argue that the inequalities experienced today are acceptable because everyone in society from all backgrounds have fair access to jobs. However, research shows that it is not true. Access is not the only issue. Within jobs, there are also income gaps between those from different class origins and for us to understand inequality, it is worth diving deeper into these numbers.
Read the full article on The Guardian: The class pay gap: why it pays to be privileged
Analysis:
Policymakers who frame the issue from the access perspective will believe that their work is done. Without recognising the full extent of how class origins exacerbate the inequalities within different life domains, the problem will not be addressed at its root cause. However, understanding the problems may not be sufficient to formulate adequate solutions because it is such a multifaceted and complex issue. Each nation will have to work with its civil societies to address local inequalities.
Questions for further personal evaluation:
- What surprises you most about the research findings on class differences?
- How does social inequality affect society?
Useful vocabulary:
- ‘disavowed’: denied any responsibility or support for
- ‘deftly’: in a way that is neatly skillful and quick in movement
- ‘imbued’: inspired
Picture credits: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/career-success-path-stair-3386334/