No Longer Sacred: Social Mobility and Professional Identity in the Teaching Profession

The teaching profession constitutes a large group of around 1 million 200 thousand people in Türkiye as of 2024. For this very reason, it corresponds to a heterogeneous middle class position and constitutes a transition point in intergenerational mobility patterns. What kind of social mobility do teachers experience in relation to their parents and how does this relate to their relationship with their profession? In pursuit of this main question, this quantitative research is based on a survey of 1028 teachers from different branches and ages in Istanbul. Research sample has been created through quota sampling in accordance with the population, and the survey was applied in schools. The main hypothesis of the research is as follows: Teachers who experience upward social mobility also have higher expectations and aspirations for their profession. This brings with it debates and dissatisfaction with the traditional “sacred” image and prestige of the profession. The study analyzes teachers' age, gender, experience and field via regression models, as well as a genuine scale of value attributed to the profession, and measures how they evaluate the image of their profession in relation to other professions. Thus, the research explores how the social status and prestige of the teaching profession are evaluated by teachers themselves in a relational view with other professional positions. In addition, questions about teachers' lifestyles allow for a multiple correspondence analysis that maps their social origins, life chances and cultural capital together.