Flexibility and Exploration as Cultural Capital: Occupational Pathways after the Ph.D.

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 20. Returns to Education

Abstract

While sociologists have illuminated myriad ways in which cultural capital contributes to social reproduction in K-12 education (and increasingly college entry), graduate education remains largely unexamined. Based on longitudinal interviews with 67 PhD candidates across the first three years of graduate education, we examine variation in occupational expectations between first-generation and continuing-generation students. In addition to observing differences in expectations regarding career paths and preparations for those paths, the results reveal a pronounced variation in students’ comfort with flexibility and exploration. Continuing-generation students embrace exploration as a path to learning about different career opportunities and as a way to think about what they may want to do. They explore various options, even when they are not necessarily interested in them, as part of developing greater knowledge and anticipating potential changes down the road. They also like to keep their options open, and they anticipate success in a number of possible careers. We expand on Lareau’s (2003) notions of “entitlement” by proposing that flexibility and exploration present a crucial dimension of middle-class cultural capital in the world of high competition and little certainty.

Authors

• Josipa Roksa, University of Virginia

• Candace Nicole Miller, University of Virginia