Abstract

Based on a comparative analysis of 27 autobiographical narrative interviews with German university professors of law and education from different class backgrounds, and drawing on theories of the social self,  the author shows that social relations and interactions with others from higher social background modify the self-images and the associated biographical schemata of social climbers. In this context, the expectations communicated by authoritative others have particular relevance due to the factual authority attributed to them. The paper contributes to social mobility research by shedding light on an essential mechanism of upward social mobility in academia.

Blome, Frerk (2023): Sozialer Aufstieg und Wissenschaftskarriere. Signifikante und autoritative Andere als Initiator:innen von Bildungs- und Aufstiegsmobilität, BIOS – Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensverlaufsanalysen, 1-2021 (ersch. Mai 2023), S. 70-91, https://doi.org/10.3224/bios.v34i1.04