The Anonymous Widower

Upward Mobility

There is a lot of talk on the news today about how there is less social mobility.  The first paragraph on a BBC report says.

Top professions such as medicine and law are increasingly being closed off to all but the most affluent families, a report into social mobility will say.

I came from what would be described as a strong middle-class family, with both Jewish and Huguenote roots.  Both my parents were reasonably intelligent and they had a very strong work ethic.  I certainly have the latter and wouldn’t have got where I have, without masses of long and hard work.  Now, I did go to a very good grammar school and this helped, by giving me a strong believe in myself and also some very sound career advice in choosing engineering.

The latter choice I’ve never regretted and I would recommend it to anybody, who is that way inclined, as it is often a pathway into all sorts of related careers, if after training, you find you don’t like getting your hands dirty!  I’ve also heard stories of how people with engineering degrees have got golden hellos to join various companies.  Surely a bonus in times like these, where students leave university with large debts in addition to their qualifications.

My late wife actually had two first degrees; Politics from Liverpool University and Law from UCL.  She then went on to be a successful barrister.

Her parents did own their own house, but could never be described as well-off.  If she hadn’t been able to get into the local grammar school and then get a full grant to go to university, she would not have gone.  She said so very often, as the government brought in loans so that they could spread higher education thinner and thinner.

I do find it strange that this government, many of whom got their start in life because of the system of grammar schools and university grants in the thirty years after the wars, have destroyed the system that gave them their start in life.

July 21, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | News | Education