Contest Mobility

Contest mobility refers to a system of social mobility in which all individuals are seen as participants in an open race for elite status, sometimes also called tournament mobility, in contrast to sponsored mobility, in which controlled selection prevails. The definitive research article on the concept was published in 1960 by the sociologist Ralph H. Turner, who compared the American and British systems of secondary education and found them markedly different, identifying the American system as one where contest mobility is the norm: equal footing among individuals is assumed as a given, achievement is attributed to each contestant's own effort, and a hardworking person of average intelligence is seen as more deserving of reward than a more intelligent person who does not try, with elite status established and interpreted by society at large through criteria such as credentials. Because elite control is precarious, since any individual can be displaced at any time, social control under contest mobility works by emphasizing forward-looking aspiration and encouraging individuals to see themselves as still competing for upward mobility; Turner found this produced generally elevated aspiration among American secondary students relative to actual opportunity, and a system that values education chiefly as a means of getting ahead rather than for its content. Contest mobility is often tied to the idea of the American Dream, and later research, including studies of workplace mobility and of American college students, found the norm still reflected in attitudes about equity, productivity, originality and achievement, even among students exposed to critiques of social reproduction and rising inequality.