Moreover, in the past, someone who left school without the “right” qualifications could still succeed, through an apprenticeship or by working his way up from the shop floor. Today, that is becoming impossible: we are creating societies in which the sheep and the goats are marked for life in their teens.
但这会让我们忽视教育链条的阴暗部分。更多“高学历”职位的出现只能证明：随着学历凭证的日益普及，它们也变得更为重要。不仅如此，过去如果有人没取得“很好的”资格就离开学校，他还有成功的机会，只要肯从学徒开始，或从底层开始级级晋升。而今天，这种可能性已不复存在：在我们正在缔造的社会，从十几岁开始就决定了孩子的终生。