ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of capital and its links to social mobility. It considers the role that careers education, information, advice and guidance and work experience can help to address inequities that exist between students and the impact that government policy has had upon its provision within schools in England. The chapter explores some career decision-making theories and links them to the concepts of capital and social mobility. It concludes with benchmarks that those involved in education can use to evaluate current practice within their institutions. Inequality is embedded in the transition from education to work in the UK, with young people's aspirations and ability to progress often relying upon their family's economic, social and cultural capital. The National Equality Panel found that children from a higher social class, and with a relatively low assessment of cognitive ability, ended up overtaking those from a lower social class who had been initially assessed as having high cognitive ability.
