ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of the way in which the educational systems intervene in the process of social mobility, and in which way the institutional context works in different industrial nations. Differences in institutions, such as the family and kinship or the division of labor, appear to be small when compared to the differences in educational systems. In the perspective of functionalism, educational institutions are important because they provide qualifications and skills that enable individuals to accomplish certain tasks in the societal division of labor. Education is more important for mobility processes, the closer both links are, and the more origin affects destination only through provision of different types of qualifications for children of different origins. It is to be expected that origin affects class destination in other ways than by influencing educational attainment. The chapter examines more closely the details of the class destinations of different education levels and the national variations thereof.
