The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged 9781447336068, 9781447336082, 9781447336099, 9781447336075, 2482522552, 1447336062

Table of contents :
THE CLASS CEILING......Page 2
Contents......Page 6
Figures......Page 8
Tables......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Note on language usage......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
The (premature) death of class......Page 20
Social mobility and the politics of inequality......Page 22
Fair access to the top......Page 24
Origins and destinations in contemporary Britain......Page 25
Bourdieu and the long shadow of class origin......Page 29
Lessons from the glass ceiling......Page 32
From getting ‘in’ to getting ‘on’......Page 34
Layout of this book......Page 35
1. Getting in......Page 44
The reproduction of privilege......Page 46
Access across elite occupations......Page 47
It’s a family affair: Micro-class reproduction......Page 49
Explaining class reproduction: The role of education......Page 50
Exclusions beyond class......Page 54
Class, race and gender intersections......Page 55
From access to progression......Page 59
2. Getting on......Page 60
The class pay gap......Page 62
The scale of the class pay gap......Page 64
Double jeopardy......Page 65
Locating the class pay gap......Page 67
3. Untangling the class pay gap......Page 72
Aren’t the privileged just older, whiter and more male?......Page 74
Is education really the ‘great equaliser’?......Page 76
But what about hard work, skill and experience?......Page 80
The (reverse) Dick Whittington effect......Page 81
Finding a fit: Occupational sorting......Page 82
Explaining the unexplained......Page 84
4. Inside elite firms......Page 86
6TV......Page 88
Turner Clarke......Page 92
Coopers......Page 96
Actors......Page 99
From the class pay gap to the class ceiling......Page 100
5. The Bank of Mum and Dad......Page 102
Family fortunes......Page 106
Money talks: Responses to typecasting......Page 108
The leaky pipeline: Sorting, segregation, stagnation......Page 114
Downplaying privilege?......Page 117
Money matters less at Coopers and Turner Clarke......Page 120
6. A helping hand......Page 124
Hitting the partner track: Accumulating experience......Page 126
‘It’s quite medieval in television’: Sponsorship and lateral hiring at 6TV......Page 130
Turning the tables: Sponsorship at Coopers......Page 133
Networks and inequality......Page 136
7. Fitting in......Page 138
The glass slipper......Page 140
Are you Partner material? The power of corporate ‘polish’......Page 142
Studied informality......Page 149
‘Seeing through the bullshit’: Coopers as ‘pragmatic’ architects......Page 155
‘Merit’ is tricky: The tyranny of ‘fit’......Page 159
8. View from the top......Page 160
How elites close off the top......Page 162
It’s not Hegel! The highbrow culture of Commissioning......Page 165
Voicing class distinction: The power of RP in British acting......Page 171
Client matching: Flattery will you get you everywhere......Page 173
Room at the top......Page 179
Looking-glass ‘merit’......Page 183
9. Self-elimination......Page 186
Opting out (‘I don’t belong there’)......Page 189
Playing safe (‘Have I ever gone there? No. And that probably tells you a lot’)......Page 190
A step too far (‘You can sort of change yourself but that only gets you so far’)......Page 192
The price of the ticket......Page 194
10. Class ceilings: A new approach to social mobility......Page 200
The class ceiling: A synthetic mobility analysis......Page 203
Beyond snapshots: Capturing the long shadow of class origin......Page 206
Capitals in context......Page 213
11. Conclusion......Page 224
The invisible hand (up)......Page 225
The performance of ‘merit’......Page 227
Birds of a feather......Page 229
When ‘merit’ does not stick......Page 230
Why this matters......Page 234
Why this matters for sociology......Page 236
Some clarifications......Page 239
Prevailing winds......Page 241
Epilogue: 10 ways to break the class ceiling......Page 244
1. Measure and monitor class background......Page 246
3. Start a conversation about talent......Page 247
4. Take intersectionality seriously......Page 248
6. Ban unpaid and unadvertised internships......Page 249
8. Formalise the informal......Page 250
9. Support those who want it......Page 251
10. Lobby for legal protection......Page 252
Stumbling across a class ceiling......Page 254
Going ‘inside’ elite organisations......Page 256
Researching 6TV......Page 257
Researching Turner Clarke......Page 259
Researching Coopers......Page 261
How we conducted interviews......Page 262
Check your privilege! Our class origins and the research process......Page 276
How do you measure social mobility?......Page 277
What is an ‘elite’ occupation?......Page 280
Analysing the Labour Force Survey......Page 281
Using regression to understand the class pay gap......Page 283
Comparing case study occupations......Page 284
Comparing elite organisations......Page 286
Feeding back to case study organisations......Page 288
Limitations and future research......Page 289
Additional table and figures......Page 291
Notes......Page 300
References......Page 336
Index......Page 374