Non native speaker is asking: Social climbing is used as negative and accusatory but Social mobility is good. What’s the difference ?

Question

Non native speaker is asking: Social climbing is used as negative and accusatory but Social mobility is good. What’s the difference ?

In: Other

Answer 1

Social climbing is a kind of personal behaviour; getting ahead by associating with people based on their social status. This can be seen as sneaky and selfish.

Social mobility is a feature of a society; the extent to which people from a lower socio-economic group can improve their circumstances. This can be influenced by social and economic policies, and would generally be thought to be a good thing.