The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Becoming Middle Class: How Working-class University Students Draw and Transgress Moral Class Boundaries
Abstract
This article analyses the expectations and experiences of a group of Canadian working-class, first-generation university students. I outline the structural disadvantages, in terms of economic, social, and cultural capital, these young people encounter. Rather than viewing working-class status exclusively as a barrier, I show how these students draw on their working-class backgrounds to construct uniquely working-class moral advantages, such as those associated with a strong work ethic, maturity, responsibility, and real-life experiences, to overcome structural disadvantages.Their narratives of moral class advantages, however, lack class consciousness.They can be interpreted as individualistic strategies that draw on collective values. Ultimately, these working-class students hope to transcend their class position. Drawing on working-class moralities supports their claim for recognition as educated middle-class subjects, but with moral dispositions rooted in their social background and upbringing.
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The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour
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“A similar picture emerges from research in Canada by Lehmann (2009, 2013), who interviewedworking-class students attending a research-intensive university, and found that the students experienced uncomfortable conflicts between their new identities as university students and the ties they had with…”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Lehmann, W.
- Affiliations
- Western University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Lehmann, Wolfgang
- ORCID
- Lehmann, Wolfgang
- Venue
- Sociology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-08
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 631-647
- ISSN
- 0038-0385 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8684
- OpenAlex
- W2058465735
- Cited by
- 208
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 23.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Capital and Social Class
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
- Keywords
- working-class students, first-generation college students, middle-class identity, class consciousness, cultural capital, social capital, economic capital, work ethic, social mobility, recognition, individualism, Canadian higher education
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