The Journal of Up's debut issue is now available online and in print.
The first issue of the Journal of Up, a new publication from the Social Mobility Lab at The City College of New York’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, is now available.
The Journal of Up shares valuable learning and perspectives on social mobility and the journey of moving up in life. Grounded in existing research, the Journal of Up’s goal is to share research-based findings and reflections in more accessible forms with those who could most benefit from this information, including young adults and students at CCNY and other institutions of higher learning around the country.
The Social Mobility Lab was launched in April 2024 with a stated mission to discover new ways to accelerate and expand opportunity for students and the communities they represent. Its approach is to learn more about what is driving social mobility, translate that knowledge into programs and practices to help students move up in life, and to engage the people and communities who can most benefit from this work.
“We believe the only reason to study social mobility is to create more of it,” said the Lab’s director, Robert P. McKinnon. “That means making sure we translate learning into its simplest and most useful form.”
The first issue features:
- An introduction by CCNY President Vincent G. Boudreau, making the case for the centrality of social mobility in a university’s mission;
- Articles by student journalists reflecting on how social mobility research resonates with their own lived experiences;
- Excerpts from the Lab’s new “Ideas for Moving Up” campaign, showcasing how research can be translated into simple actions to help promote social mobility;
- Explorations of social mobility proximate to the lives of young people by Social Mobility Lab grantees;
- A guest essay by Linda Powell, co-chair of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors, on the importance of sharing our journeys, and one by Yale University computational biologist C. Brandon Ogbunu on his efforts to make his research more accessible;
- Charts and graphs that convey important social mobility-related data; and
- Visual artifacts and content that represent new ways to engage people in social mobility-related issues.
"Our college's consistent nation-leading performance in the realm of social mobility brings home one clear fact: that producing social mobility is neither accidental nor incidental,” said Boudreau. “It comes rather from a set of dispositions toward education that can be studied, analyzed and replicated. The Social Mobility Lab, and this publication, represent our initial efforts to systematically share what we know about social mobility and the work of the College.”
Interested readers may request a free print copy by contacting Social Mobility Lab Associate Director Pierre Losson at plosson@ccny.cuny.edu .
The second issue of the Journal of Up will appear in spring 2027. Interested contributors may contact McKinnon at rmckinnon@ccny.cuny.edu .
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 2.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.7 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers, and society. At City College, more than 16,500 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity, and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together,” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College's mission. By May 2026, more than $500 million had been raised. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic, and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Syd Steinhardt
212-650-7875
ssteinhardt@ccny.cuny.edu