Cultural Capital, Identity, and Social Mobility

Download or read book Cultural Capital, Identity, and Social Mobility written by Mick Matthys and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-12-12 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This qualitative study explores the meaning of working-class origin in the life and career of university graduates. Social transition from a working-class background to a middle-class milieu results in loyalty conflicts and communication barriers. The lack of social and cultural capital and the absent sense of an assertive self-presentation are pivotal barriers to gaining management functions. Positions in certain key sectors are not necessarily allocated according to professional capacity, but to obscure social connections, regulated by cultural codes and tests. Matthys approaches social mobility as a trajectory of identity construction in which different classes are integrated, and uses the notion of identity capital to interpret and discuss the meaning of the individual drive in social mobility.