  We introduce and discuss a system of one-dimensional kinetic equations
describing the influence of higher education in the social stratification of a
multi-agent society. The system is obtained by coupling a model for knowledge
formation with a kinetic description of the social climbing in which the
parameters characterizing the elementary interactions leading to the formation
of a social elite are assumed to depend on the degree of knowledge/education of
the agents. In addition, we discuss the case in which the education level of an
individual is function of the position occupied in the social ranking. With
this last assumption we obtain a fully coupled model in which knowledge and
social status influence each other. In the last part, we provide several
numerical experiments highlighting the role of education in reducing social
inequalities and in promoting social mobility.
