Changing Pathways to Corporate Elite: Education, Social Background, and Elite Stratification.

I examine patterns of educational and social background of the elite over time as well as the effects of social and educational background on stratification within the corporate elite. I ask: Are some fields more likely pathways to the inner circle membership than others? Is there educational stratification by field of study? I investigate associations between education, social background, and inner circle membership using data on members of the Finnish corporate elite in 1980, 1992, and 2004. Using loglinear models, I find that the association between social background and elite changes over time. The proportion of Swedish-speaking elite members plummets over time, while the share of foreign directors soars. Moreover, I find significant changes in the educational background of the elite. Most notably, there is a steep decline in the proportion of lawyers, and a rise in the share of elite members with degrees in business or engineering. I find an association between education and inner circle membership. Social background, however, has no significant effect on elite stratification. In other words, social origin may provide differential access to the elite, but no additional advantages once in the elite. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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