Upward Mobility and Family Relations in the Biographies of Academics From Working Classes

Abstract

This article refers to problems that have not been explored in the Polish research space so far, namely educational opportunities and career paths for academics from working classes. The basic source of data in this article are narrative biographical interviews with academics employees of Polish universities who, coming from a family with modest intellectual traditions, and scarce social, cultural and economic capital, have managed to achieve success in the scientific world. The main research question is: how is the configuration of various types of capital accumulated in the family related to the development of an academic career in Poland? The authors of the article propose the dissemination of new theoretical concepts: “anti-capital of a family” and “upward cultural capital”.

Keywords

• education
• family system
• academics
• upward mobility
• working class