Upwardly Mobile Men in Chile: First-Generation University Graduates, Meritocratic Striving and Its Costs

Palma Amestoy, Carlos

This paper focuses on the experiences and subjectivities of professional men and men in executive positions who are the first generation in their families to graduate from university and have had notable upward social mobility in Chile. In doing so, it addresses various dimensions of the mobility process, including how participants understand social mobility, the main factors that help or hinder their progress, the influence of the sociopolitical context on their career paths, and the role they attribute to elites in the mobility process.

This paper is part of a broader research project that includes more than 300 in-depth semi-structured interviews, covering social groups with diverse social characteristics. The interviews covered different topics, such as the meaning attributed to the mobility process, work trajectories, perceptions of the elite and projections for the future. In particular, this paper analyses the accounts of 39 men in professional and executive positions at various stages of their careers.

Preliminary findings suggest that interviewees understand the concept of social mobility in practical terms while also recognising intergenerational differences in their access to goods and services. Additionally, they point out symbolic and ethical considerations (Morton, 2021), along with some costs to their lives. Regarding social mobility enablers, aspects such as merit and individual effort are seen as crucial. However, participants also mention more collective and structural factors, including the roles of their family, networks and luck (Sauder, 2020). This paper aims to delve deeper into these issues and examine how they challenge the meritocratic ideal (Sandel, 2021). The analysis also reveals that the trajectories of upwardly mobile individuals are significantly influenced by the sociopolitical context at the outset of their careers. Finally, this paper discusses the different approaches participants take towards elites.