Abstract
How do individuals achieve upward mobility in education despite the well‐documented mechanisms that foster reproduction of inequalities? This question presents a fundamental puzzle for social science researchers and has generated an increasing body of research. The present article tackles the puzzle using a life course and personal network lens. Studying educational trajectories in Germany of students whose parents have low educational degrees, it asks: What paths did students take through the education system, what personal network factors were important for their educational attainment, and how did these factors change over students’ life courses? In contrast to most studies that zoom in on a specific transition or time period, the article uses data from 36 retrospective in‐depth interviews that allow a sweeping view of respondents’ educational careers. Thanks to a systematic case selection scheme, the data also enables comparisons between students who became upwardly mobile and those who replicated their parents’ low educational degrees. Findings suggest four types of trajectories: direct upward mobility, indirect upward mobility, direct non‐mobility, and indirect non‐mobility. I discuss four personal network factors that seem to drive these trajectories: support with academic efforts, encouragement, support with solving problems, and role models. Upwardly mobile students showed combinations of two or more of these four factors that established higher education as the students’ goal, and provided them with tools and support to reach that goal. With these findings, the article contributes to literature on inclusion in education, social inequality and mobility, personal networks, and the life course.
Highlights
How do some individuals achieve upward mobility despite the well‐documented mechanisms that fos‐ ter intergenerational reproduction of inequalities? This question presents an important puzzle for social science researchers, it connects to the fundamental issue of social inclusion through equality of opportunity
I ask: What paths did students take through the education sys‐ tem, what personal network factors were important for their educational attainment, and how did these factors change over students’ life courses? The article uses data from 36 retrospective in‐depth interviews that allow a sweeping view of respondents’ educational careers, in contrast to most studies that zoom in on a specific transi‐ tion or time period
Instead of studying specific episodes or isolated educational decisions, the life course perspective sug‐ gests to focus on processes over a long time (Elder, 1985; Mayer, 2009, p. 414) and be mindful of turning points during the life course (Legewie & Tucci, 2021). In this arti‐ cle, I take a sweeping view of upward mobility in educa‐ tion, which allows me to describe different educational trajectories of upward mobility and non‐mobility, iden‐ tify relevant personal network factors looking at entire educational careers instead of discrete decisions, phases, or transitions, and analyze the importance of timing of personal network factors vis‐à‐vis events and transitions during educational careers
Summary
How do some individuals achieve upward mobility despite the well‐documented mechanisms that fos‐ ter intergenerational reproduction of inequalities? This question presents an important puzzle for social science researchers, it connects to the fundamental issue of social inclusion through equality of opportunity. I discuss four per‐ sonal network factors that seem to drive these trajecto‐ ries: support with academic efforts, encouragement, sup‐ port with solving problems, and role models. My analysis of these factors over time suggests that there is consider‐ able variation in the extent to which students have access to network‐based resources, and timing of that access vis‐à‐vis choices, events, and transitions plays an impor‐ tant role in whether students can use resources on their way to upward educational mobility and inclusion
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