Negotiations, costs, and continuities: analysing the upward educational and social mobility of young men and women of Moroccan descent in Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between the upward educational and social mobility processes of young men and women of Moroccan descent in Catalonia, Spain. Through data obtained from two ethnographic research projects and life stories, we analyse and compare the experiences of twenty-four young men and women of Moroccan descent who are attending university or in the admissions process. From an intersectional perspective, we analyse how gender, religion, ethno-racial and class-based inequalities have conditioned their pathways and their opportunities for upward educational and social mobility. These young men and women use a ‘minority culture of mobility’ to establish various strategies and negotiations to gain better opportunities for academic continuity and social mobility. Our findings show that the benefits of upward educational and social mobility do not necessarily reflect ‘outside’ but rather ‘within’ their ethnic group.