Abstract
Go-getters. An inquiry into the Meaning of a Working-class Origin for the Life Course and Career of University Graduates Mick Matthys ‘Go-getters’ discuss the meaning of working class origin for the life and career experiences of university graduates. Thirty two in depth interviews with 32 respondents are analyzed and interpreted
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from ‘inside out’. The theoretical framework integrates the notions of the social identity theory; identity construction; the concepts of social and cultural capital; the notion of agency and the theory of identity capital. Data show that despite the fact that respondents were stimulated by their parents to pursue higher education, this stimulus was nonetheless limited by commonplace class expectations for the future. At the same time, a shared outspoken positive sentiment towards further education was a reason for parents to raise themselves socially within the working class. The families respondents are coming from, have a rich tradition of practical creativity, technical ability and a deep interest in math and science disciplines. This interest has a profound influence on choices for further education and career. Moreover, this choice works to avoid a cultural split with family and past. The choice for the humanities or social sciences has been preceded by explicit acquaintance with alternative or high culture. A very meaningful stimulating aspect is identification with role models, who presents the world of the higher class as a desirable concept, where concrete models are available for intellectual interests and competences. Teachers and others who had detected students’ intellectual qualities and thus encouraged parents to send their children to more challenging schools were discussed. One of the most striking results is that a working class background manifest itself in attitudes of hard working and seriousness. These attitudes, learned at home, are based on a deep-seated professional ethos, where hard and secure work, unfailing collegial solidarity and at times a difficult relationship with authority, play a part. The lack of an adequate social network and cultural and communicative competences and the absent sense of an assertive self presentation is experienced as a pivotal barrier to gain management functions. ‘Running in the outside lane’ is a very common experience. Another conclusion is that social transition from a working class background to a middleclass milieu results in loyalty conflicts but not quarrels or hostility to the family. Respondents experience the oppressive along with the liberating aspects of dialogical communication, in the adopted milieu. It is in this environment where an appropriate form for their intellectual needs is met; still they have to contend with strange rituals, codes and ambiguities. Professional communication appears to be the most fitting method of acquiring a social position in the workplace. But here too, experience shows that the allocation of positions in certain (key) sectors is not necessarily a matter of professional capacity but of obscure social connections, regulated by cultural codes and tests. However, in those contexts where communication in the technical and practical realm dominates, more openness and accessibility to higher-level functions exists.
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