SPONSORED MOBILITY

Contest Mobility, Social Mobility

Sponsored Mobility is a British term, contrasted with contest mobility, to refer to a method of identifying people at an early age for social advancement and sponsoring, or supporting, them as they prepare for their rise to the top and then guaranteeing them a comfortable position.

Similarly, those not so identified or sponsored are not supported or given opportunity and thus are destined for positions at the bottom of the class structure.

Sponsored Mobility is different from mobility allowance a social-security benefit payable to a disabled person to assist with the cost of travel.

In sponsored mobility, elite status is not earned, but given on the basis of some objective criterion. Individuals must be sponsored by one or more members already in the elite circle in order to gain access.

Contest mobility is a British term referring to what North Americans would refer to as social mobility through equality of opportunity. In contest mobility, equal footing among individuals is assumed as a given. Achievement is attributed directly to the effort put in by each contestant. The idea is also referred to as tournament mobility.

Recruitment for positions in society is seen as a contest in which the contestants are competing freely. Contest mobility refers to system of social mobility in which all individuals are seen as participants in a race and the contest is open.

On Becoming a Superintendent: Contest or Sponsored Mobility? Moody, Charles D., Sr. 
Abstract: Studied the role of such professional contacts as consultants, mentors, and advisors (specifically Blacks) in the selection and placement of Black school superintendents. Found that White consultants were disproportionately selected by school boards to advise on hiring decisions. Holds that sponsorship, mentorship, and networking control and limit minority access to positions such as the superintendency. - eric.ed.gov

Grodsky, Eric. "Sponsored Mobility in Higher Education" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, PA, 2005-08-12 Online Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper, I apply a rational action perspective to the study of affirmative action in higher education. I argue that the evolution of affirmative action policies in college recruitment and admissions is best understood as a response by postsecondary institutions to a variety of both external and internal forces. Currently popular theories in social stratification, such as maximally maintained inequality, are ill-equipped to account for organizational activities like affirmative action that appear to undermine racial and ethnic stratification. I suggest that affirmative action is a variant of what Ralph Turner call sponsored mobility. Building on Skrentny, I suggest that this form of sponsorship may have originated as an organizational response to a perceived crisis in legitimacy brought on by the Civil Rights struggle. Over time, however, affirmative action became part of the normative behaviors in which even moderately competitive colleges engage. Using data from representative samples of high school graduates in the classes of 1972, 1982 and 1992, I find persistent patterns of affirmative action for African American students and emergent patterns for white students. Unlike race/ethnicity, however, I find that colleges do little to reduce stratification among students based on socioeconomic status. - allacademic.com

A Sociological Study on the Educational System and Meritocracy of Singapore: The Institute of Technical Education as a Rewarming-Up Apparatus
SIM, Choon Kiat, (Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo)
ABSTRACT: Focusing on the rigorous selective educational system of Singapore, this paper aims to paint a profile of the ‘losers’ produced by the system and elucidate the role of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) where ‘losers’ are enrolled.
Based on survey data gathered from students studying at ITE and elites attending Junior Colleges, this study first illustrates the facts that there is a lack of mobility between different tracks in Singapore’s educational system, and that the influence of social classes on education exists even in meritocratic Singapore. Nonetheless, it is shown that despite the lower social classes and academic achievements of the ‘losers,’ not only does their aspiration rise upon admission into ITE, but the average time they spend on studies is comparable to that of the elites.
This study further demonstrates that the notion of being given a second chance and the ability to see the prospects for a future job determine the average study hours of the ‘losers.’ It is thus concluded that there is a strong possibility that ITE functions as a rewarming-up apparatus.
Possible factors contributing to the rise of aspirations among the ‘losers,’ including the efforts put in by ITE, are discussed at the end of the paper.
Singapore’s educational system is unique in that while the selection process may be rigorous, even the ‘losers’ perform well in international comparative studies on academic ability.
Furthermore, it fits neither the European model of sponsored mobility nor the US-Japan model of contest mobility. Hence, by unraveling the process of how ‘losers’ adapt to failure in a competitive system such as Singapore’s, this study hopes to bring fresh viewpoints to existing theories concerning educational selection process as well as ‘losers’ in the field of Sociology of Education. - gakkai.ne.jp/jses/English/ publication/title/abstract/74/abst_74_08.pdf

Sponsored and Contest Mobility Revisited: An Examination of Britain and the USA Today.
Morgan, Harriet P. - Oxford Review of Education, v16 n1 p39-54 1990
Abstract: Examines the conceptual framework of sponsored and contest mobility originated by Ralph H. Turner to illuminate student educational mobility in the British and U.S. educational systems in 1960. Concludes that today entry into U.S. higher education is determined by demand rather than ability but entry into the British higher education system is more selective, limiting access. (SLM)

Sponsored and Contest Mobility Among College Graduates: Measurement of the Relative Openness of a Social Structure - Kinloch, Graham C. - Sociol Educ, 42, 4, 350-367, Fall '69
Abstract: This study is concerned with determining the significance of achievement and ascriptive factors in the career mobility of graduate engineers. Difficulties regarding the measurement of relative openness of a social structure are pointed out (Author/SE)

"Sponsored and Contest Mobility and the School System." American Sociological Review 25 (6 December): 855-867. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1999.

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