RaM-CLASSClass reproduction and mobility - biographical experiences in academic, artistic, and business fields

The RaM-CLASS project addresses the question of biographical experience and identities of the individuals who hold the same professional positions, but have different class backgrounds. Taking into account that different professions require different career paths, we have selected participants from three different fields, which are perceived as having a socially recognized symbolic capital, i.e. academia (academics with doctoral degrees and above, working at universities), arts (artists representing various artistic disciplines), and business (top managers and business owners, especially in the financial sector).

To see whether class background is linked with individual opportunities and experience concerning entering a given field and achieving recognition we will collect the biographical-narrative interviews with individuals who come from working class families and have experienced intergenerational upward mobility, and those who reproduce their parents’ (relatively) high status.

By applying a comparative perspective, we want to explore the following aspects:

• the similarities and differences in the biographical pathways leading to the same professional fields
• the experience of dealing with crossing the (in)visible class boundaries or reproduction of the parents’ social position
• the intersection of class background and gender
• class self-identification and perception of social classes
• the link between biographical experience and selected professional fields.

Moreover, taking into consideration that both biographical processes and social perception of social classes are partially shaped by the public discourse, we want to address the question of the presence and representation of social classes in Polish media. We will conduct a critical discourse analysis of articles published in selected weekly magazines in the period from 2004 to 2022, concerning topics related to social class. Our diachronic analysis will concern both the main thematic tendencies and in-depth discursive strategies of representing various social classes (and constructing the symbolic boundaries) in selected newspapers.

The project will help to establish what significance social class has in contemporary society in Poland, and how it contributes to social inequalities. Hence, the project will contribute to the discussion about social classes and meritocracy in the country. Moreover, we will better understand the situation of people working in academia, the arts, and the business sectors, in particular the impact of social class on initial opportunities and career paths in these fields. We will also learn whether media reflect social classes, and if yes, then how they do it.