Educational and labor trajectories in professionals: an analysis from social, cultural capital and institutional habitus

Abstract

In the current social and economic context, career paths are less predictable and do not depend exclusively on a specific educational trajectory. The objective of this research was to characterize the trajectories of professionals in relation to their social and cultural capital. 17 in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals from Concepción, Chile. It is concluded that the educational and labor trajectories of professionals who entered the university with a social and cultural capital deficit have in common the discourse of personal effort, which is assumed as a normalized reality, visualizing a more individualistic position on responsibility of building their own trajectories. The university institution is characterized by incorporating integration strategies associated with academic tools, but not integration into symbolic and cultural spaces, rather it is a challenge that the subject assumes and that defines subsequent work trajectories.