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Becoming Middle Class: How Working-class University Students Draw and Transgress Moral Class Boundaries

University of Western Ontario, wlehmann{at}uwo.ca

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.

Key Words: class • habitus • individualization • moral disposition • social mobility

Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 4, 631-647 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038509105412


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