1st Edition

Positional Competition and Social Inequality in Graduate Careers

108 Pages
by Routledge

108 Pages
by Routledge

108 Pages
by Routledge

This book examines how social inequalities in higher education shape the positional competition in graduate labour markets. Featuring research from Europe, North America, and China, the book provides new insights into graduate careers by examining how graduates from various backgrounds navigate their labour market trajectories in different national contexts. Based on in-depth case studies, it... Read more

Introduction: positional competition and social inequality in graduate careers

Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret, Gerbrand Tholen and Agnès van Zanten

 

1. The meaning of higher education credentials in graduate occupations: the view of recruitment consultants

Gerbrand Tholen

 

2. ‘Some people may feel socially excluded and distressed’: Finnish business students’ participation in extracurricular activities and the accumulation of cultural capital

Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret, Päivi Siivonen and Nina Haltia

 

3. Mobility and stability: post-graduate employment experiences of working-class students

Wolfgang Lehmann

 

4. Is ‘diversity’ a liability or an asset in elite labour markets? The case of graduates who have benefited from a French positive discrimination scheme

Agnès van Zanten

 

5. Geography-mediated institutionalised cultural capital: regional inequalities in graduate employment

Cora Lingling Xu and Yin Ma

 

6. The perceived labour market value of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Europe and the USA

Valentina Goglio, Sonia Bertolini and Paolo Parigi

 

 

Biography

Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret is Professor at the Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education (CELE), University of Turku, Finland. Her research interests include equality in/through higher education, educational credentialing, graduate employability, lifelong learning and the perceptions of institutional and social status.

Gerbrand Tholen is Reader in Sociology at City St George's, University of London, UK. His revolves around the sociology of work and education, examining the relationship between higher education, skills, credentials, jobs and careers as well as professions, social inequality, elites and the social construction of labour markets.

Agnès van Zanten is Senior Research Professor at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Sciences Po, Paris, France. She is interested in class-based and contextual educational inequalities and is presently conducting research on elite families and schools, access and widening participation in higher education, and medical students.