Occupational mobility and cognitive ability: A commentary on Betthäuser,Bourne and Bukodi

This commentary critiques Betthäuser, Bourne and Bukodi's (2020) paper which finds that cognitive ability does not substantially mediate class of origin effects on educational and occupational outcomes. From these results, they conclude that cognitive ability is only of minor importance for social stratification, reasserting their view of the primacy of class origins for social stratification. The central issue surrounding cognitive ability in social stratification is its effects on socioeconomic attainments vis-à-vis socioeconomic origins, not the extent that cognitive ability mediates classorigin effects. Their analytical strategy of estimating the extent that cognitive ability mediates class origineffects is misleading because: it ignores the only moderate associations of socioeconomic origins with educational and occupational outcomes; the stronger direct effects of cognitive ability; the associations of parents’ ability with their own socioeconomic attainments; and the genetic transmission of cognitive ability and other traits relevant to social stratification from parents to their children.     

Identity Dilemmas: Toward a More Situated Understanding

When are identity dilemmas—when people possess identities that conflict with one another and both are potentially stigmatizing—most likely to occur? Are they the result of generic social processes? A review of some of the extant research on “identity work” suggests that historical “misalignments” of culture and stratification, which we refer to as “lag,” create the greatest potential for stigma and the reproduction of inequalities. Lag is exacerbated by complex, intersecting axes of hierarchy, and amplified as symbolic environments globalize and subcultures multiply. Articulating culture and structure reveals how power plays out in interaction, and highlights the omnipresence of struggles for treatment as “fully human.” We consider whether “alignment” is even possible when multiple dimensions of social location intertwine, compete, and collide. Following Schwalbe and Mason‐Schrock (1996), we argue that “subcultural” or collective identity work that brings new meanings into dominant cultural narratives may offer the greatest hope, but in the interim all coping strategies are costly.     

Working and disability expectancies at older ages: The role of childhood circumstances and education

The ability to work at older ages depends on health and education. Both accumulate starting very early in life. We assess how childhood disadvantages combine with education to affect working and health trajectories. Applying multistate period life tables to data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for the period 2008–2014, we estimate how the residual life expectancy at age 50 is distributed in number of years of work and disability, by number of childhood disadvantages, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our findings indicate that number of childhood disadvantages is negatively associated with work and positively with disability, irrespective of gender and race/ethnicity. Childhood disadvantages intersect with low education resulting in shorter lives, and redistributing life years from work to disability. Among the highly educated, health and work differences between groups of childhood disadvantage are small. Combining multistate models and inverse probability weighting, we show that the return of high education is greater among the most disadvantaged.     

Broken promise of college? New educational sorting mechanisms for intergenerational association in the 21st century

Previous studies have shown that intergenerational socioeconomic association becomes weaker as children's education level increases and is negligible among college graduates. A college degree is known as the great equalizer for intergenerational socioeconomic mobility. Recent studies, however, reported that the strong intergenerational association reemerges among advanced degree holders although it stays weak among BA-only holders. Despite the substantial theoretical importance and policy implications, the mechanisms behind the reemergence of the intergenerational association at the post-baccalaureate level have been less studied. In this paper, we examine the association between parents' education and children's earnings using the 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2017 National Survey of College Graduates data. Our results show that the strong intergenerational socioeconomic immobility among advanced degree holders is fully attributable to three educational sorting mechanisms: children from high-SES families (1) obtain expensive and financially rewarding advanced degrees, (2) attend selective institutions and major in hyper-lucrative fields of study such as law and medicine in graduate school, and (3) complete their education at a younger age and enjoy income growth over more years in the labor market. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Levels or worlds of welfare? Assessing social rights and social stratification in Northern and Southern countries

Since Esping‐Andersen's Three Worlds, it has become a truism of welfare state research that welfare states do not vary linearly along a single dimension but have to be conceptualized as multidimensional phenomena that cluster into types caused by the political economy of class coalitions. However, when moving beyond the 18 original countries of Esping‐Andersen's analysis, the situation is less clear. Although additional worlds have been identified in the Global North and the Global South, these are usually not conceptualized along the same dimensions as the original three worlds and are rarely empirically compared with them. This paper tackles these omissions by explicitly comparing Northern and Southern countries within Esping‐Andersen's framework. It poses the question whether the central insight of welfare state research, namely, that there are not just gradual differences between welfare states, but different types with qualitative differences, expands beyond classic welfare states. Based on newly generated data on social rights and social stratification, we employ cluster analysis with 45 Northern and Southern countries. This analysis produces mixed results. We do find different types of welfare states with qualitative differences, but these do not fully correspond to Esping‐Andersen's Three Worlds. Moreover, our findings also point to a conceptual issue in welfare regime research: regimes are not just defined and measured in terms of different logics of welfare provision but also take into account degrees of welfare stateism. We argue that this issue is poised to become ever more pressing with the geographical expansion of welfare state research.     

北京市社会阶层结构状况与特点分析

北京市社会阶层结构正在由传统的“金字塔型”结构向现代的“橄榄型”阶层结构方向发展,其较低阶层的比例远远小于全国的比例,社会中间阶层正在形成。具体地看有以下几个特点:1.阶层结构在向现代社会阶层结构转变;2.农民工构成了较低职业阶层的主体;3.城市户籍人口中间阶层化;4.外来人口是一个异质性很强的群体,也呈现阶层分化的态势。从未来发展趋势看,农业劳动者阶层将继续缩小,商业服务业人员、个体私营企业主以及以脑力劳动为主的办事人员、专业技术人员阶层还将继续扩大,逐渐演变为一个以社会中间阶层为主的现代化阶层结构。     

社会阶层地位与清廉感知: 差异及解释——基于2016年度全国廉情调查数据的实证分析

公众清廉感知是近年来廉政研究领域中的一个热点议题,然而,现有研究忽略了社会公众内部的阶层差异性。对2016年度全国廉情调查数据的实证分析发现：公众的社会阶层地位与政府清廉感知之间具有显著相关性,且总体上呈现出倒U形特征,中间社会阶层的公众对各级政府的清廉感知水平显著更高。进一步的中介效应分析表明,不同社会阶层在腐败容忍度、反腐败满意度、腐败经历和感知信息来源渠道等方面的差异是导致其清廉感知差异的重要内在影响机制。近年来政府反腐败努力得到了绝大部分中间社会阶层群体的认可,但下层社会公众对各级政府清廉感知水平更低的情况说明,必须进一步优化反腐败策略,更加注重解决基层群众身边的腐败问题。     

Expanding Boundaries of Whiteness? A Look at the Marital Patterns of Part‐White Multiracial Groups

Using a boundary perspective (Alba and Nee 2003 ), I examine the marital behavior of three self‐identified multiracial groups: black/whites, American Indian/whites, Asian/whites. With a focus on marriage with whites, I assess whether the boundaries of whiteness are expanding to include these part‐white multiracial groups. Marrying whites at a large scale may signify that part‐white multiracial Americans are in the process of being accepted as “white.” At the same time, due to differences in the racial identity experiences of multiracial groups, marital patterns may differ by racial combination. Based on analysis of 2008–2012 American Community Survey data, I find that the majority of all three groups are married to whites, suggesting that most members in these groups are on the path to whiteness. On the other hand, multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrates that American Indian/whites and Asian/whites are more likely than black/whites to have a white spouse, relative to spouses of another race/ethnicity. Moreover, separate regression analyses by multiracial group reveal gender differences in their likelihood of marrying whites for black/whites and Asian/whites. These results indicate racial stratification in the marriage market among part‐white multiracial Americans, with further stratification by gender for some groups.     

扩张的中国高等教育：教育质量与社会分层

本文利用2011年首都高校生发展状况调查的数据，分析北京高校学生的分层现状，并讨论了1999年高等教育扩张对大学生入学和就业分层的影响，发现这一轮扩张强化了社会阶层的复制而非再生产。一方面，在其他条件不变的情况下，来自社会优势阶层家庭的学生有更大概率进入具有更好教育质量的精英院校，这说明中国高等教育在这一时期具有排他性的特征；家庭的社会阶层背景对子女教育分层的影响在中学阶段更加明显；家庭背景对专业选择没有显著影响。另一方面，在控制家庭社会经济背景的影响后，教育质量与学生选择市场化部门就业的概率和工作起薪显著正相关。如果高等教育扩张降低了教育质量，就可能削弱高等教育对社会阶层流动的促进作用。