Toward a developmental transactional model of educational upward mobility
Authors: Lee Yunung , Mackenzie Michael J. , Lach Lucyna 
Published: November 2024

There is a disconnect between theoretical depictions of educational upward mobility (EUM) and empirical evidence. Although the Origin‐Education‐Destination (OED) triangle, a functionalist model in its ideal meritocratic state, posits education as the key mediator between one's origin and destination, efforts to address inequality through higher education have not always proven successful across regions and generations. This paper proposes an adapted theoretical model of EUM, drawing on critical theoretical analysis from multidisciplinary perspectives—including the functionalist perspective of education, Bordieuan critiques of social reproduction, and the ecological‐transactional theory of human development—to capture the interplay of developmental processes and structural inequalities. Departing from the original linear mediation approach of OED, the new model attempts to account for research findings of how origin factors moderate the E‐D association, and how educational institutions and programmes can moderate the O‐D relationship by leveraging social reproduction theory and the ecological‐transactional framework. The transactional developmental lens adopted by this article illuminates EUM as a dynamic, fluid process of human development involving ongoing, dialectic transactions between individual agency and the ecological context across life courses. A critical review of existing psychological and sociological theories in the domain of EUM highlights the need for more fine‐grained longitudinal data and diverse approaches to change the status quo by considering individual differences, micro‐relational dynamics and macro structures across the ecology and across development. The article also acknowledges, however, the methodological, theoretical and contextual limitations of the integrated model, calling for future studies to account for cultural, societal and generational variations to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes in order to guide future policy and programmatic directions.

Context and Implications

Rationale for this study: Education is often held up as the great equaliser, yet despite efforts over decades by governments to prioritise higher education as a tool to break the intergenerational inequality, we have seen limited success in educational opportunity driving reduction of the linkages between origins and outcomes.

Why the new findings matter: To effectively push forward our understanding of the systems change and policy interventions necessary to meaningfully move the needle in educational upward mobility will require a conceptual model that can effectively contend with the dynamic developmental nature of these processes in context.

Implications for researchers and policy makers: This critical review reveals the complicated, fluid nature of the role of education in upward mobility. Changing the inertia, or event backslide in upward mobility, will necessitate scholars and policy makers amplifying their collective agency by considering the dynamic transactions of individual differences, micro‐relational dynamics, and macro‐structures in their academic, practical and policy efforts toward addressing inequality. Through pushing our thinking on upward mobility toward a more developmentally informed model, our science will more fully elucidate the underlying complexity across levels of the ecology that either facilitate, or serve as barriers to, increasing opportunity and broadening the possibilities for all youth.