Education and the social mobility conundrum: An examination of the 'psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory' in the context of disadvantaged students in the UK secondary education sector

The purpose of this investigation was to identify original insights into the educational social mobility conundrum in the UK via examination of the current body of empirical and existing literature associated with disadvantaged secondary school students. The lens of the 'psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory' (PATA) has been applied to explore themes of educational social mobility disadvantage, disengagement and alienation and trauma and trust. This systematic literature review followed PRISMA guidelines, with the SPIDER model adopted to demonstrate the search strategy employed which identified N = 58 publications for inclusion. The contribution of this research to the field of children, young people and society is three-fold: Firstly, findings provide evidence of the additional educational psychological theory. Secondly, secondary education is identified as a pivotal milestone, where efforts to drive change for educational progress contributing to social mobility progress for disadvantaged students could be focused. Thirdly, the synthesis of current research and literature, identified that there is currently no existing literature related to the PATA theory positioned within the disadvantaged secondary school student context aligned to educational social mobility. This analysis shows that the issues experienced in the education system by disadvantaged students in secondary education correlate with the layered elements of the PATA theory, providing justification for further empirical research. Additionally, the insights reported here could be of interest to the children and young people sector, educational psychology community, educational policy-makers and international groups who share similar social policy, social mobility demographics and educational systems.