Strategies for social mobility through sports and/or school in working-class Moroccan families

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the social mobility strategies employed by working-class Moroccan families in the context of the complex relationship of elite sport and school. To better understand these strategies, a qualitative study, including semi-structured interviews and participant observations, was conducted in the city of Temara (on the outskirts of Rabat) with young people aged 14–20 years and parents. From the analysis of this data, I identified five themes that reflect the different investments families held in sport and/or schooling, as strategies for their children’s futures. One group of parents invested in an educational strategy that focused on academic success. In contrast, others adapted their strategies to encourage their children to pursue an athletic career if they failed academically or showed signs of potential athletic success, while another group of parents tried to protect their children from the possible adverse effects of sports commitment. Another group supported their children in their chosen paths of social mobility. Lastly, there were parents who due to precarious living conditions and family conflicts were indifferent to sports as a pathway to social mobility and instead urged their children to become more productive immediately through seeking work. These differing family strategies in relation to young people's investment in sports point to the diversity of working-class families’ responses to the tensions that emerge when school and sport come into conflict as pathways to social mobility. I acknowledge that these family strategies are not fixed but may change with changes in available resources and opportunities. However, I argue that both schools and sporting organizations need to be aware and understand the complex environments, including family investments and strategies in which students may be making choices about their futures in relation to education and sport.