Lessons in how to improve social mobility: what we can do, how we can do it and why it’s not being done already. 

A society with high social mobility creates opportunities for people from all backgrounds to excel. The UK is becoming less socially mobile, meaning that, compared to previous generations, the chances of young people starting out today are more tightly tied to their background.  

Leading experts in this field discuss not only what can be done to level the playing field - but why it’s not being done already and what is needed to turn ideas into action.  

Meet our speakers and chair

Lee Elliot Major (@Lem_Exeter) is Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, Britain's first professor in the field. His work is dedicated to improving the prospects of disadvantaged young people. 

Sam Friedman (@SamFriedmanSoc) is a sociologist of class and inequality, and my research focuses in particular on the cultural dimensions of contemporary class division and Professor of Sociology at LSE. He is currently writing a book with Aaron Reeves (under contract with Harvard University Press) exploring how the British elite has changed over the last 120 years. His previous book, The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged,  researched social mobility into Britain’s higher professional and managerial occupations. 

Stephen Machin (@s_machin_) is a British economist and Professor of Economics at LSE. He is currently director of the Centre for Economic Performance and is a fellow of the British Academy, the Society of Labor Economists and the European Economic Association. 

Update 15 June, 2pm: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sophie Pender who was due to participate in this panel, is no longer able to join the event. 

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: People and Change running from Monday 12 to Saturday 17 June 2023, with a series of events exploring how change affects people and how people effect change. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 15 May. 

The Centre for Economic Performance (@CEP_LSE) carries out policy-focused research on the causes of economic growth and effective ways to create a fair, inclusive and sustainable society.

The Department of Sociology (@LSEsociology) seek to produce sociology that is public-facing, fully engaged with London as a global city, and with major contemporary debates in the intersection between economy, politics and society – with issues such as financialisation, inequality, migration, urban ecology, and climate change.

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival  

Podcast and video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Smashing the Class Ceiling.

A video of this event is available to watch at Smashing the Class Ceiling.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.