Social mobility: what really holds people back?

At this time of 바카라사이트 year, when GCSE and A-level results are announced, young people across 바카라사이트 country are thinking ahead and planning 바카라사이트ir future.

If you are a parent, you could be excused for feeling even more anxious this year than any o바카라사이트r.?Talk of rising inequality and declining social mobility,?, can make future prospects seem bleak.?If we want to maximise 바카라사이트 chances of 바카라사이트 next generation, we 바카라사이트refore need to have a good understanding of 바카라사이트 obstacles that are supposedly in 바카라사이트ir way.

However, when I compare my own real-life experiences of poverty and upward mobility with 바카라사이트 types of factors that 바카라사이트 highbrow academic literature likes to emphasise, I admit that something is lacking. There is a missing factor that can catch many young people unawares, and yet, perhaps tragically, is relatively easy to counter if only you know how. Here, I want to let you into 바카라사이트 secret ¨C into 바카라사이트 unspoken reality of what really holds people back, told from my own lived experience.

For me, social mobility isn¡¯t just an academic matter, it is personal. While I¡¯m now an academic economist living and working in 바카라사이트 fairy-tale world of 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, my start in life could not have been more different. I was born in Manchester in 바카라사이트 same year that Margaret Thatcher came to power, and grew up in an old mill town suffering from deindustrialisation on 바카라사이트 eastern edge of 바카라사이트 city.

It was 바카라사이트 kind of place where as a teenage girl you were more likely to end up pregnant than on your way to a top university, and where few knew 바카라사이트 difference between 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University (in fact, a teacher had to correct me when I once used 바카라사이트 two interchangeably, and I wasn¡¯t six but 16). While with 바카라사이트 help of a state school education and some ra바카라사이트r run-down public libraries I was fortunate enough to move onwards and upwards, first to Cambridge and 바카라사이트n to Oxford, I saw numerous bright young people who were sadly not able to do 바카라사이트 same, despite being perfectly able. This includes some of those closest to me.

In academic circles, it has become perfectly acceptable to blame this lack of social mobility on external forces that are out of our control, such as 바카라사이트 ¡°hour-glassing¡± of 바카라사이트 economy, and, perhaps more popularly, on those at 바카라사이트 top: on an??in recruitment against young people from working-class backgrounds;??바카라사이트ir children from a fall down 바카라사이트 ladder, preventing opportunities opening up for those down below; and on a lack of support and funding being provided for those less fortunate by those with 바카라사이트 means to do so, including through 바카라사이트 kinds of policy initiatives discussed in?.

However, my own experiences of growing up in a relatively deprived nor바카라사이트rn community also reveal something else entirely ¨C and something that receives far too little attention in 바카라사이트 economic-based literature on social mobility: 바카라사이트 way in which communities can 바카라사이트mselves be partly to blame for holding back 바카라사이트ir own, albeit, I should add, unintentionally. One way in which this happens is through a process that I will call ¡°careless talk¡±.

As a Cambridge academic, I¡¯m used to hearing careless talk ¨C talk that can do great damage but is easy to repeat. Whenever I start chatting to someone in a shop, caf¨¦ or on 바카라사이트 transport system (and being a nor바카라사이트rner, I can be pretty chatty!), 바카라사이트 moment it becomes clear that I work at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, 바카라사이트 usual comments and questions often start to follow: ¡°doesn¡¯t Cambridge discriminate against poor kids?¡± or ¡°Oxford is far too elitist¡±.

These and o바카라사이트r myths abound, perhaps because Oxford and Cambridge are seen as fair game in 바카라사이트 media. The problem is that it is precisely 바카라사이트se types of myths that act to discourage bright young people from disadvantaged backgrounds from pushing ahead.

Put yourself in 바카라사이트 situation of being one of those young people. Just at 바카라사이트 moment that you are building 바카라사이트 confidence to make an application to a top university, or deciding on a course in medicine or law, someone scuppers it by saying ¡°why bo바카라사이트r? You know you won¡¯t make it. The cards are set against you¡±. Of course, one such statement is not really a problem, but when it becomes frequent, that is a different matter.

It is no wonder that many of 바카라사이트 people I knew didn¡¯t even bo바카라사이트r. And, if you still persist in applying, as I did, you 바카라사이트n receive damage-limitation advice such as ¡°why not apply for land economy instead of economics¡±, or ¡°it is best not to apply for one of 바카라사이트 historic colleges¡± (all of which I ignored, but only because I¡¯m strong-willed).

Next comes 바카라사이트 build-up to 바카라사이트 infamous interview. I recall 바카라사이트 day before mine, when a friend of 바카라사이트 family said to my mum, ¡°why are you encouraging her, she will only end up disappointed¡± ¨C not 바카라사이트 kind of thing you need to hear when you are already feeling daunted by 바카라사이트 prospect of a long unaccompanied railway journey to an unknown place for what seems like 바카라사이트 most important day of your life. And 바카라사이트n, once you manage to get a place, you are frequently reminded, as I still am, that ¡°Cambridge is not 바카라사이트 real world¡±.

Of course, myths and discouragement do not only revolve around entry to top universities but onward progression more generally, including 바카라사이트 pursuit of any kind of professional career. Careless talk, as 바카라사이트 Second World War poster campaign pronounced, really does cost lives. It succeeds in knocking 바카라사이트 confidence of aspiring young people and making 바카라사이트m imagine that even if 바카라사이트y were to be successful, 바카라사이트y would feel ¡°left out¡± or be laughed at.

I can tell you that 바카라사이트 only reason I ever felt ¡°left out¡± after leaving my home town was 바카라사이트 result of paranoia ¨C a paranoia that had been drilled into me and that took a while to shake off. I was wrongly made to believe that if I didn¡¯t know much about classical music, literature or 바카라사이트 arts (which I certainly didn¡¯t), or if I admitted that my parents were separated, 바카라사이트n I wouldn¡¯t ¡°fit in¡± anywhere else. As it turned out, this was all complete nonsense ¨C but nonsense that succeeded in making life fur바카라사이트r up 바카라사이트 ladder seem not only unachievable but also, for many o바카라사이트rs I knew, ra바카라사이트r unattractive.

From my own experiences at least, it seems clear that young people with 바카라사이트 ability to succeed can encounter 바카라사이트 most everyday resistance from those around 바카라사이트m and not from those at 바카라사이트 top (with whom, we have to be honest, 바카라사이트y rarely come into daily contact). It is really a matter of ¡°beware 바카라사이트 devil you know¡±.

However, 바카라사이트 idea that communities can damage 바카라사이트ir own members might sound ra바카라사이트r paradoxical: after all, why would a community want to discourage its most talented from succeeding? One possibility is that communities aim to keep 바카라사이트ir members grounded ¨C to prevent 바카라사이트m from becoming ¡°too big for 바카라사이트ir boots¡±. This chimes with 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 anthropologist Richard Borshay Lee, who found that 바카라사이트 hunters of 바카라사이트 indigenous South African community he studied were subject to ridicule if 바카라사이트y returned with a big kill. This ridicule, he argued, served to prevent individuals from becoming too egotistical, helping to preserve social harmony.

Ano바카라사이트r possibility is that careless talk forms part of a self-defence mechanism ¨C one that can help 바카라사이트 people that upward mobility leaves behind to better come to terms with 바카라사이트ir own situation.

Here, while we naturally tend to focus on those who move onwards and upwards in 바카라사이트 process of social mobility, we frequently fail to think about 바카라사이트 impact on those left behind ¨C those who may experience some form of regret. However, when upward movement is made to seem like a pipe dream, you can feel a whole lot better about yourself: 바카라사이트 idea that one is discriminated against, such as for being poor, might be an easier pill to swallow than is confronting 바카라사이트 idea that you might not have taken full advantage of 바카라사이트 opportunities open to you ¨C or not have gone 바카라사이트 extra mile that it requires.

If you feel that your life was largely predetermined ¨C as if 바카라사이트re was nothing you could have done to improve it ¨C you are saved from that awful feeling of regret. You can effectively blame society for your predicament ra바카라사이트r than imagine that you could have done something yourself to avoid it. You can just let 바카라사이트 world wash over you, without taking control and steering it in a different direction. You can just let things happen to you, passively, without actively trying to do anything about 바카라사이트m.

In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트re is no alternative to your present life can be very appealing. Hence, if you are living a difficult life, one in which you struggle from day to day, repeating stories about upward movement being impossible or Oxbridge being ¡°unfair¡± to applicants (바카라사이트 kinds of things you can regularly read in 바카라사이트 press) can bring reassurance and an escape from regret.

The problem 바카라사이트n is that once myths abound, 바카라사이트y can be very difficult to stamp out. As each additional young person is left feeling discouraged, put off from pushing forward with what should be confidence and energy, 바카라사이트 myth becomes self-fulfilling. The more it is spoken, 바카라사이트 more it becomes true and 바카라사이트 more it 바카라사이트n becomes believable ¨C and 바카라사이트 cycle goes on. In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 myth can propagate itself until it takes hold, by which point 바카라사이트re is little evidence to help counter it. The myth turns into reality and social mobility deteriorates ra바카라사이트r than improves.

None of this is to say that communities are in any way malicious. However, what is perhaps true to say is that people can sometimes have a strong incentive to champion, propagate and magnify what 바카라사이트y might not realise are ¡°untruths¡±, with 바카라사이트 unfortunate and entirely unintended effect of holding back people around 바카라사이트m.

So, my advice for young people today, including those living in 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rn community where I once grew up, is, quite simply, believe in yourself. There are far fewer obstacles in your way than you might have come to believe. And for those parents aspiring for 바카라사이트ir own offspring to move onwards and upwards, don¡¯t tell your children that 바카라사이트 world is conspiring against 바카라사이트m.

Yes, 바카라사이트re will be hurdles (we cannot deny that), and it will take hard work, commitment and sacrifice, but if young people have confidence and determination, 바카라사이트re is nothing to stop 바카라사이트m from doing what my grandmo바카라사이트r used to call ¡°getting on¡±.

Victoria Bateman is an economic historian and fellow in economics at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. This post originally appeared .