"The book is packed with sociological thinking rather than sociological theories and concepts. It is well written and should provide undergraduates with many insights about all career phases, from the job search to the separation. Undergraduates will have many of their assumptions challenged, especially that inequalities at work may not be based on connections, skills, information, or knowledge, but on luck. 'Luckocracy' may be difficult to face. However, Streib makes a compelling argument that luck plays a larger role in decision-making than students have been taught to believe."
A startling discovery-that job market success after college is largely random-forces a reappraisal of education, opportunity, and the American dream.
As a gateway to economic opportunity, a college degree is viewed by many as America's great equalizer. And it's true: wealthier, more connected, and seemingly better-qualified students earn exactly the same pay as their less privileged peers. Yet, the reasons why may have little to do with bootstraps or self-improvement-it might just be dumb luck. That's what sociologist Jessi Streib proposes in The Accidental Equalizer, a conclusion she reaches after interviewing dozens of hiring agents and job-seeking graduates.
Streib finds that luck shapes the hiring process from start to finish in a way that limits class privilege in the job market. Employers hide information about how to get ahead and force students to guess which jobs pay the most and how best to obtain them. Without clear routes to success, graduates from all class backgrounds face the same odds at high pay. The Accidental Equalizer is a frank appraisal of how this “luckocracy” works and its implications for the future of higher education and the middle class. Although this system is far from eliminating American inequality, Streib shows that it may just be the best opportunity structure we have-for better and for worse.
A startling discovery-that job market success after college is largely random-forces a reappraisal of education, opportunity, and the American dream.
As a gateway to economic opportunity, a college degree is viewed by many as America's great equalizer. And it's true: wealthier, more connected, and seemingly better-qualified students earn exactly the same pay as their less privileged peers. Yet, the reasons why may have little to do with bootstraps or self-improvement-it might just be dumb luck. That's what sociologist Jessi Streib proposes in The Accidental Equalizer, a conclusion she reaches after interviewing dozens of hiring agents and job-seeking graduates.
Streib finds that luck shapes the hiring process from start to finish in a way that limits class privilege in the job market. Employers hide information about how to get ahead and force students to guess which jobs pay the most and how best to obtain them. Without clear routes to success, graduates from all class backgrounds face the same odds at high pay. The Accidental Equalizer is a frank appraisal of how this “luckocracy” works and its implications for the future of higher education and the middle class. Although this system is far from eliminating American inequality, Streib shows that it may just be the best opportunity structure we have-for better and for worse.
The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay after College
The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay after College
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Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940192819319 |
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Publisher: | University of Chicago Press |
Publication date: | 05/20/2024 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |