“YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF DORCHESTER, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE DORCHESTER OUT OF THE BOY”: TOWARD A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF MOBILITY

Abstract

This article seeks to illuminate some of the social psychological correlates of social mobility. It proceeds from the observation that while a great deal is known about aggregate rates of mobility and the factors that inhibit or enhance persons' movement through social structures, far less is known about the way individuals define, interpret, comprehend, and give meaning to their own movement through social space. In‐depth interview data from 25 professionals who grew up in working‐ or lower‐class circumstances suggests that such a background deeply influences persons' perceptions and actions throughout their occupational lives. The professionals whose own words we will hear, all between 50 and 60 years of age, have “made it” in the occupational world. And they have done it by traversing great social distances. As the recount their stories of becoming doctors, lawyers, academics, and businesspersons, they also mention over and again how their motives, strategic occupational choices, and self‐images are connected to the circumstances of their origins. Class and ethnic background is an important “frame” within which persons understand, experience, and create their careers.