Social mobility can be described as a multifaceted and multidimensional challenge impacted by areas such as educational attainment, gender and geography. The public sector plays an essential role in creating societies with equal opportunity and, in many regards, appears to be way ahead of the private sector in terms of paving the way for a fairer society.

Dimensions affecting the social mobility agenda:

• Life-course mobility — individuals can move up or down a social ladder in their lifetime, which is called inter-generational mobility.

• Educational attainment — this includes how well a child performs in school and what overall level of education they achieve, where both of these metrics are strongly related to family background.

• The gender dimension —gender is one of the important dimensions that should be considered in shaping government policy for better social mobility.

• The geographic dimension — the degree of social mobility is often considered on a national scale, but countries can exhibit considerable variation in mobility outcomes depending on where individuals live.

There are several factors which can impede social mobility. These include:

• Income inequality — there is evidence that inequality can exacerbate low levels of social mobility. Analysis demonstrates that inter-generational mobility is worse than average in countries with high levels of income inequality, for a number of reasons.

• Perceptions of corruption — new analysis demonstrates a relationship between perceived corruption and the degree of social mobility in a country. The results show that as perceived corruption rises, there is a corresponding drop in social mobility.

SOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Examining the respondents from the January 2018 ACCA research, Purpose and the Profession, we see large differentials between public sector respondents and their peers in other sectors. Public sector professional accountants were more than twice as likely to have started their ACCA qualification in their 40s than a respondent working in any other sector.

There were also significant differences in the socio-economic backgrounds (SEB) of respondents by sector. Public finance professionals were more likely than those in other sectors to come from comparatively disadvantaged backgrounds, and were also less likely to have parents or guardians working as managers or professionals. These results suggest that, globally, the public sector finance function is providing a more effective route into the profession for those from lower SEBs. This could be the result of better diversity and open-access initiatives in the public sector, or it could be led by an organisational culture that is more aware of biases.

TANGIBLE STEPS

Tangible steps for public sector finance and accountancy professionals include:

• Awareness — making the profession better known as a career choice

• Removing barriers —making qualifications and employment opportunities more accessible

• Skills and the changing world of work — basic skills and lifelong learning

• Data — greater data collection on the social diversity imperative.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL PROFESSION

Developing countries face rising social, economic and environmental threats from issues that include overly rapid urbanisation, climate change, water scarcity and extreme weather. These threats will add to an already challenging context for both public and private sector.

Tackling these issues effectively demands an unprecedented level of collaboration. Professional accountants from a core part of this collaborative ecosystem by working to support effective public services, business growth, and a transition to high-value and sustainable development — while at all times working to protect public interest. Professional accountants can play their role in supporting development that is equitable, sustainable, and ready for the future.

Alex Metcalfe is the ACCA head of public sector policy