Educational Upward Mobility

Most working-class people still do not enter higher education, but some do. What enables them to achieve against the odds? In Educational Upward Mobility Antonia Kupfer explores the reasons behind the exceptional educational upward mobility of working-class people in Austria and England to offer answers as to what enables such mobility. With the help of Bourdieu's concept of habitus and by analyzing biographical narrative interviews, this book reveals the social structures and contexts that enable successful working-class participation in education up to university degrees. Although national educational systems and policies may differ, cultural changes, such as attitudes towards women's participation in higher education, are greatly similar. Country-specific patterns also emerge. In Austria, an upper vocational school providing vocational education and access to university is decisive. In England, the Open University, despite its shortcomings, is a second chance for higher education. Surprisingly, however, similarities outweigh differences and point to deeper layers critical to breaking barriers. The deepest is an intriguing mental process by which people with precarious childhoods find security and comfort in higher education by seeking truth.