TOWARD MERITOCRACY - CHANGING SOCIAL-CLASS DIFFERENCES IN INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

Many observers believe that intellectual ability has become a more imp ortant determinant of occupational success in recent decades and that social-class differences in ability have consequently increased. This article examines changes in occupational-class differences in scores o n a test of verbal ability for people born between the late 19th centu ry and the 1960s. Contrary to the usual view, class differences have b ecome smaller among people born after about 1945; this development ref lects changes in the quantify and the effects of education. Therefore, current social problems cannot be ascribed to an increasing concentra tion of low-ability people in the lower classes.