TY - JOUR

T1 - Distinction in Higher Education

T2 - Educational Strategies of Upper Milieu Students in Germany

AU - Schäfer, Gregor

PY - 2024/7/2

Y1 - 2024/7/2

N2 - This article aims to address the research question of which educational strategies are employed by upper milieus to establish or maintain the ‘structure of distances’ in the field of higher education in late modernity. Inspired by Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction and conflict, the study examined 95 qualitative interviews conducted with master’s students in Germany. In contrast to the extensive research on elite education, this study specifically focuses on the status reproduction of upper milieus in a country with a limited tradition of elite universities. The study incorporated three academic disciplines – management/business administration, medicine, and musicology – to account for the different capital compositions within the upper milieus. In this article, we discuss four exemplary strategies of distinction that appear to be particularly relevant for the upper milieus, comparing them with interviews conducted with students from middle and lower milieus. Finally, we relate the findings to current sociological diagnoses of social change in late modernity.

AB - This article aims to address the research question of which educational strategies are employed by upper milieus to establish or maintain the ‘structure of distances’ in the field of higher education in late modernity. Inspired by Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction and conflict, the study examined 95 qualitative interviews conducted with master’s students in Germany. In contrast to the extensive research on elite education, this study specifically focuses on the status reproduction of upper milieus in a country with a limited tradition of elite universities. The study incorporated three academic disciplines – management/business administration, medicine, and musicology – to account for the different capital compositions within the upper milieus. In this article, we discuss four exemplary strategies of distinction that appear to be particularly relevant for the upper milieus, comparing them with interviews conducted with students from middle and lower milieus. Finally, we relate the findings to current sociological diagnoses of social change in late modernity.

U2 - 10.1080/01425692.2024.2369544

DO - 10.1080/01425692.2024.2369544

M3 - Journal article

JO - British Journal of Sociology of Education

JF - British Journal of Sociology of Education

SN - 0142-5692

ER -