ABSTRACT
Societies have developed a very large number of functionally alternative social organizations through which they try to cope with the problem and dilemma in question. Further, although any given society is likely to utilize more than one social organization, some structural arrangements are likely to be more important than others. In industrial societies the functional problem of the total selection process and its attendant dilemma are translated into the terms of reference of their educational systems. In an educational system with sponsorship and elitist ideologies, the development of achievement and mobility orientations is more likely to follow than to precede some sign of educational success. Educational achievements, which are the first phase of mobility, are more likely to create achievement orientations and mobility orientations than to be created by them. In an educational system with contest and egalitarian ideologies, the development of achievement and mobility orientations is more likely to precede than to follow an early educational success.
