Social stratification in science
The ultra-elite in the UK
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12658166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E Bukodi (0000-0001-8277-2829, Nuffield College, University of Oxford a Department of Social Policy and Intervention, , Oxford, corresponding author), John H Goldthorpe (0000-0003-1131-2619, Nuffield College, University of Oxford b , Oxford), Inga Steinberg (0000-0002-1964-7897, Nuffield College, University of Oxford a Department of Social Policy and Intervention, , Oxford) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1265-1306 |
| Publication date | 2024-02-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Societies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-6696 • E-ISSN: 1469-8307 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14616696.2024.2308010 |
| OpenAlex | W4391539012 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 21 |
We start out from Harriet Zuckerman’s study of the US scientific ultra-elite of Nobel laureates, in which Robert Merton's idea of ‘Matthew effects’ as a key mechanism in the creation of social inequalities was first introduced. We then consider two issues arising from critical commentary on this study by Elisabeth Crawford, a historian of science. First, how far can a scientific ultra-elite be shown to exist as a collectivity that is socially distinctive? Second, how far is Zuckerman’s account of the formation of the US ultra-elite trough ‘bilateral associative selection’ between scientific masters and their would-be apprentices historically specific to the US? In the UK case, we compare the social origins and educational careers of members of two possible scientific ultra-elites, defined by differing degrees of stringency, with those of other elite scientists. We find that as one moves from the elite to the less stringently defined ultra-elite, there is little evidence of increasing social stratification but that such evidence does emerge in moving to the more stringently defined ultra-elite. We also show through two contrasting Cambridge case studies, that the underlying social processes that Zuckerman identifies in ultra-elite formation in the US are also present in these UK contexts
Economics · Elite · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social science · Social stratification · Sociology · Stratification (seeds · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics
The sociology of science
Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation
Matthew
The Matthew effect in empirical data
The Matthew effect in science funding
Of medals and men
The Copley Medal
Beyond the Nobel Prize
Émigré neurophysiologists' situated knowledge economies and their roles in forming international cultures of scientific excellence
Sociology as a Population Science
The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology
Cumulative Advantage as a Mechanism for Inequality
Continuing complexity
The social origins and schooling of a scientific elite
Cumulative Advantage and Inequality in Science
Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty
Social Class of Men, Women and Families
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |