The Biographical Experience of Entering the Academic Profession

Acknowledgments 7

Introduction. Upward Mobility, Semi-Peripheries, and the Academic Profession 9
Th Aim of the Book 9
Social Class, Globalization, and Superdiversity 10
Structure of the Book 12

Chapter 1. The Miraculous and the Inheritors in 21st Century Poland. On the Theories of Upward Mobility in Higher Education Beyond the Global Centers 13
Social Class as an Essentially Contested Concept 14
The Relational Understanding of Social Class 15
Social Class in Liquid Modernity 16
Social Reproduction, the Miraculous, and Non-Reproduction 19
The Rejection of Class at the Level of Public Discourse 21
The Dominated among the Dominated. Higher Education in Poland and the Issue of Class 24
Methods and Data 26

Chapter 2. How Are the Miraculous Born? The Anatomy of Upward Mobility 31
Research Problem: The Anatomy of Upward Mobility through Post-Socialist Academia 31
Factors Facilitating Mobility in Post-Socialist Academia 32
The Exceptional Talent and Precocious Skills 32
Supportive Family 33
Other Role Models: Human and Non-Human 38
Place of Birth 41
Egalitarian Higher Education System 42
Coincidence 48
Conclusions and Policy Implications 49

Chapter 3. The Burden of a Metamorphosis or a Blessing in Disguise? The Physiology of Upward Mobility 51
Realizing the Class Difference 51
Not Fitting in Academia: Estrangement and Fear 55
Deep career uncertainty 60
Losing Old Heritage (Cultural Breach) 64
Popular Class Background as an Academic Asset 69
Valuing the Culture of Origin 70
Reversed Transfer and Repayment 74
Conclusions 76

Chapter 4. Cultural Markers of Upward Mobility within Academia. Eastern European Perspective 77
Upward Mobility and Cultural Practices 78
TV Culture versus Book Culture 78
Ideological Sphere 82
Rediscovering Leisure Time 87
Traveling and Exploring 91
Eating Habits 97
Alcohol 102
Clothing & Post-Materialism 106
Highbrow Culture 114
Upward Mobility and Class Dispositions. Discussion 117
Outbound versus Inbound Orientation 117
Freedom to Choose versus “Realized Necessity” 118
Automatic versus Selective Consumption 120
Traditional versus Self-Created Definition of Life Success 121
Conclusions 123
The Unfinished Story of Upward Mobility. The Summary of Findings 126
Towards Policies 130

References 135