Education and social mobility

Education and social mobility

A cherished assumption of S&T policy wonks is that R&D will enhance worker productivity and that a high-quality education will enable young people to do productive work and raise their economic standing. Indeed, the potential of a young person from an impoverished family to scale the economic ladder through study and hard work is a fundamental credo of the U.S. political system.

Numerous examples of this type of economic progress are celebrated in the country’s folklore, but the picture that emerges from the data on social mobility is not so heartening. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution are making an effort to shed light on the realities of social mobility by publishing the journal The Future of Children. The Fall 2006 issue is devoted to an outstanding collection of articles on “Opportunity in America.” All the articles are available at:

http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=388485

Several of the authors and a group of journalists discussed the issues raised in the journal at the Brookings Institution last week. Although the findings of the articles cannot be summarized in simple terms, a few points of consensus emerged:

- Although social mobility is possible, it is not easy.

- Pre-K is already too late to begin helping children; we need to be working with 2- and 3-year old.

- High-quality early childhood education is necessary but not sufficient.

- Community colleges in particular deserve more attention because that is where children from low-income families will be found.