EDUCATIONAL CHANNELS AND ELITE MOBILITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.

A detailed comparison of intergenerational mobility into one elite occupation-engineering--in Britain and the U.S. reveals contrasting patterns and indicates some of the mechanisms, especially education, that tend to be ignored in broad national comparisons. Changes in recruitment into engineering during the past forty-five years indicate increasing rigidity in the U.S. and a pattern of increasing fluidity in Britain. In addition, high status origins are more highly related to professional success in the U.S. than they are in Britain. The advantages of cumulative evidence based upon comparisons of particular occupational and educational institutions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]