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PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA: 1890-1910
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine what effect a public school education had upon occupational mobility. The objective was to determine if there is a link between educational attainment and occupational advancement. And to assess to what degree the immigrant child benefitted in that process. The time limit placed on this study is 1890 to 1910. Major sources for this study were the Omaha School District Census reports and the Omaha City Directories. The school census record was taken each year from the child's parent or guardian at the time the child was enrolled in school. The Omaha City Directories were used to follow occupational career patterns. The data thus gathered empirically tested the effect of schooling on occupational mobility and also provided a model for further testing. The data from this study strongly indicate that there was little if any benefit received by any group from a public high school education. Some groups did better than others, but no glaring disparities could be found. No examples could be found of anyone having walked the Horatio Algers' rags-to-riches path. The historical notion that there is room at the top for the talented poor was not supported by the findings in this study. The answer to the question, did public education have a role in occupational mobility, is inconclusive. It is true that education helped some move up the occupational ladder, but on the average it had not been successful mobility. For some, however, especially for the immigrant or black child, the process did not work as well.
Subject Area
Education history
Recommended Citation
KOLBERG, PERSIJS, "PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA: 1890-1910" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8328178.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8328178