Abstract
Although governments and higher education institutions across Europe are promoting agendas for widening the educational participation and increasing the social mobility of young people from lower socio-economic groups, very little has been written about the experiences of these individuals when seeking and entering employment. We aim to address this gap. Using a qualitative research approach, we explore the career expectations, experiences and limitations of first-generation university engineering students and graduates in Germany. The article draws upon the work of Pierre Bourdieu to demonstrate how social and cultural capitals instilled by parents and social peers are invaluable in developing personal and professional networks and eventual entry into the engineering professions. A lack of, or underdeveloped, capitals can inhibit career opportunities and ultimately the social mobility and professional choices of graduate engineers. Our research discovered that university graduates from less advantaged backgrounds face a ‘class ceiling’ at university, in obtaining an internship and then when gaining entry to and working in the engineering profession; they encounter ‘sticky steps’ at each stage of their career ladder.
Highlights
Throughout Europe, much consideration is currently given to widening the access and social mobility of young people, that is, the ability and/or opportunity of young people from lower socio-economic groups and certain demographic areas to gain entry into elite educational institutions and employment within professional occupations
We aim to address this gap by using a qualitative research approach to consider the ‘class ceiling’ from the perspective of ‘socially mobile’ engineering graduates
In our paper we briefly draw upon the work of Bourdieu (1983, 1986) in order to help frame our discussion. We find his approach useful because Bourdieu attempts to explain the persistence of group-based social inequality with his theory of social and cultural reproduction (Edgerton & Roberts, 2014), while acknowledging that individuals strategise and make choices within the constraints imposed by their own specific context
Summary
Throughout Europe, much consideration is currently given to widening the access and social mobility of young people, that is, the ability and/or opportunity of young people from lower socio-economic groups and certain demographic areas to gain entry into elite educational institutions and employment within professional occupations. Apart from the obvious disadvantages to businesses that are missing out on recruiting talent (Forson, Calveley & Smith, 2015; Higher Education Policy Institute, 2018), the discussion around social mobility is important for other reasons too: there is evidence to show that the ‘upwardly mobile’ do less well in entering employment and in progressing once in employment They could be said to face what has been described as a ‘class ceiling’ (Friedman, Laurison & Miles, 2015). Do they face barriers to entry and promotion (Browne, 2010; Forson, Calveley & Smith, 2015; Friedman, Laurison & Miles, 2015; Randle, Forson & Calveley, 2015) but they suffer from a class pay gap (Laurison & Friedman, 2016; Friedman & Laurison, 2017)
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