Shifting Futures: Trends in Socioeconomic Disparities in Adolescents’ Expected Occupational Status in the United States and the United Kingdom, 2000-2022

Professor Soo-yong Byun, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Abstract

Using nationally representative PISA data from 2000 to 2022, this study examined trends in socioeconomic disparities in adolescents’ expected occupational status in the United States and the United Kingdom. While American adolescents consistently reported higher expectations than their British peers, this trend reversed in 2022. Despite the reversal, family socioeconomic status (SES) remained a stronger predictor of occupational expectations in the United Kingdom. In the United States, SES influence remained stable overall but widened among students with lower expectations. In contrast, SES influence weakened in the United Kingdom, with disparities increasing at the lower end but narrowing at the higher end. These findings reveal changing dynamics of SES-related inequalities and their implications for educational and occupational mobility in both countries.

Bio

Soo-yong Byun is a Professor of Education, Demography, and Asian Studies at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). His research focuses on the sociology of education, international and comparative education, rural education, and educational policy analysis and program evaluation. His work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including American Educational Research Journal, Comparative Education Review, and Sociology of Education. Dr. Byun earned his Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration, with a concentration in Comparative and International Development Education, from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He received the 2021 Senior Outstanding Research Award from Penn State’s College of Education and served as President of the Korean American Educational Researchers Association (KAERA) from 2017 to 2018. Dr. Byun has held visiting appointments at Seoul National University (2018–2019), Ewha Womans University (non-residential visiting professor, 2022–2024), and the University of Edinburgh (Spring 2026).

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