Nexus Between Vocational Education, Social Mobility, and Inequality in Nigeria: A Longitudinal Sociological Analysis

This study investigated the relationship between vocational education, social mobility, and income inequality in Nigeria through a longitudinal sociological analysis spanning two decades, drawing on Bourdieu's field theory and social reproduction theory. Vocational education is frequently promoted as a vehicle for social mobility, yet critical sociological analysis raises the possibility that it may simultaneously reproduce structural inequalities by channeling lower-class students into lower-wage occupational fields. Using secondary analysis of the Nigeria General Household Survey panel data from 2010 to 2023 supplemented by qualitative life history interviews with 40 vocational graduates from low, middle, and high socioeconomic backgrounds across four geopolitical zones, the study employed mobility table analysis, Gini decomposition, and Bourdieusian field analysis. Findings revealed that vocational education delivered statistically significant but modest upward mobility gains relative to no post-secondary education, but substantially lower mobility outcomes than academic higher education, contributing to intergenerational occupational stratification. Vocational education's social mobility effect was strongly conditioned by class origin, access to capital, and institutional quality. Field analysis revealed that vocational education functions as a lower-status field with limited capital conversion capacity. The study recommends structural reforms to enhance the status and economic returns of vocational education, including wage floors for certified vocational workers and credit transfer mechanisms to higher education. Keywords: social mobility, vocational education, inequality, Nigeria, Bourdieu.