Higher Education Effects on Intergenerational Social Mobility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the higher education's role in creating social mobility inside the Saudi society. To help achieve this aim, an instrument was developed to measure intergenerational social mobility for those born between 1380 and 1395, those who hold a university degree and their peers who hold a less degree compared to their parents. The instrument included an explanatory introduction and 25 questions about the socioeconomic status of parents and the current socio economic status of their children. The questions were distributed among 1000 respondents working in the different Saudi labor sectors and born between 1380 and 1395 H. 428 analyzable answers were restored. To analyze data, logistic regression method was adopted. The most important conclusions of the study were that individual's educational degree is the only variable that has a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable (current income) and that individual's educational degree, mother's education and father's profession are the variables that affect the current profession of the individual. The study also found family income, family's original place of stay, mother's education and profession to be the variables affecting individual's current place of stay.