Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21. / Archer, Louise; Francis, Becky; Henderson, Morag; Holmegaard, Henriette; Macleod, Emily; Moote, Julie; Watson, Emma.

In: British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 44, No. 5, 2023, p. 843–859.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Archer, L, Francis, B, Henderson, M, Holmegaard, H, Macleod, E, Moote, J & Watson, E 2023, 'Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21', British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 843–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234

APA

Archer, L., Francis, B., Henderson, M., Holmegaard, H., Macleod, E., Moote, J., & Watson, E. (2023). Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 44(5), 843–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234

Vancouver

Archer L, Francis B, Henderson M, Holmegaard H, Macleod E, Moote J et al. Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 2023;44(5):843–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234

Author

Archer, Louise ; Francis, Becky ; Henderson, Morag ; Holmegaard, Henriette ; Macleod, Emily ; Moote, Julie ; Watson, Emma. / Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21. In: British Journal of Sociology of Education. 2023 ; Vol. 44, No. 5. pp. 843–859.

Bibtex

@article{13e893ac09f84a3ea7b37448fdbb9b42,
title = "Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people{\textquoteright}s lives from age 10–21",
abstract = "Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10–21. We explore the potential significance of luck within the trajectories of 13 educationally mobile young people who were the first in family to go to university, six young people who achieved similar educational levels to their parents and one young person whose status was less clear cut. Our analysis suggests that particular forms of luck may be instrumental in creating opportunities for social mobility, although the consequentiality of these are mediated through interplays of agency, structure, habitus and capital. We conclude that paying further attention to luck may help augment sociological understandings of structure/agency and Bourdieusian understandings of social reproduction.",
author = "Louise Archer and Becky Francis and Morag Henderson and Henriette Holmegaard and Emily Macleod and Julie Moote and Emma Watson",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234",
language = "English",
volume = "44",
pages = "843–859",
journal = "British Journal of Sociology of Education",
issn = "0142-5692",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21

AU - Archer, Louise

AU - Francis, Becky

AU - Henderson, Morag

AU - Holmegaard, Henriette

AU - Macleod, Emily

AU - Moote, Julie

AU - Watson, Emma

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10–21. We explore the potential significance of luck within the trajectories of 13 educationally mobile young people who were the first in family to go to university, six young people who achieved similar educational levels to their parents and one young person whose status was less clear cut. Our analysis suggests that particular forms of luck may be instrumental in creating opportunities for social mobility, although the consequentiality of these are mediated through interplays of agency, structure, habitus and capital. We conclude that paying further attention to luck may help augment sociological understandings of structure/agency and Bourdieusian understandings of social reproduction.

AB - Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10–21. We explore the potential significance of luck within the trajectories of 13 educationally mobile young people who were the first in family to go to university, six young people who achieved similar educational levels to their parents and one young person whose status was less clear cut. Our analysis suggests that particular forms of luck may be instrumental in creating opportunities for social mobility, although the consequentiality of these are mediated through interplays of agency, structure, habitus and capital. We conclude that paying further attention to luck may help augment sociological understandings of structure/agency and Bourdieusian understandings of social reproduction.

U2 - 10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234

DO - 10.1080/01425692.2023.2211234

M3 - Journal article

VL - 44

SP - 843

EP - 859

JO - British Journal of Sociology of Education

JF - British Journal of Sociology of Education

SN - 0142-5692

IS - 5

ER -

ID: 347115709