‘THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE DILETTANTE?’ THE SOCIAL ORIGINS AND EDUCATION OF THE BRITISH CIVIL SERVICE ELITE, 1945–2022

In this paper, we provide a better account than previously available of the extent of stability or change in the social backgrounds – the class origins and education – of the British civil service elite from 1945 onwards. We consider our findings in relation to questions of meritocracy in recruitment to the elite and of the representativeness of the elite of the population at large. We also have data on the degree subjects studied by elite members, which we consider in relation to the question of whether a ‘generalist’ orientation persists within the service. We show that as regards class origins, type of schooling and universities attended, there has been no steady directional change in the composition of the elite during the period we cover. Overall, individuals entering the elite in the twenty-first century have followed more diverse educational routes than those entering in the mid-twentieth century but with little difference in their class origins. As regards fields of study at university, there has been only a limited decline in the numbers of the elite studying humanities rather than subjects that provide more specialised knowledge relevant to policy formation and implementation. Elite members with degrees in STEM and in social sciences other than economics are still small minorities. The probability of having studied in the humanities increases with being of advantaged class origins, having been privately schooled and having attended Oxford University. We conclude that if the aim in civil service recruitment and in promotion to the elite were to be that of having a growing number of elite members with more specialist knowledge, this aim could be pursued alongside that of reducing the striking instances of over-representation that still exist in the social composition of the elite in terms of class origins and education.