Educational opportunities, and the specific structures of educational systems, are as consequential for mobility in labor markets as are the attributes of the individuals who make careers in those markets. The conceptual and empirical challenge is to understand how individual and environmental factors interactively affect mobility processes. The argument is developed in three steps. First, a typology for the classification of educational systems is presented. According to this typology, educational systems can be distinguished along the criteria of ‘standardization’ (the provision of equal educational standards nationwide) and ‘stratification’ (the selection procedures within the systems). Second, general hypotheses are stated on how educational system characteristics shape labor market outcomes. With a stratified educational system, occupational status is closely determined by individual educational attainment; with an unstratified system, occupational status is less determined by educational attainment. On the other hand, with a standardized system, job changes occur less frequently than with an unstandardized system. Third, empirical evidence is provided. The educational systems of Norway, West Germany and the United States are evaluated according to the typology of standardization and stratification. The connection of educational system attributes and labor market outcomes is analyzed on the basis of retrospective life history data from the United States, Norway and West Germany.
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