Class Mistreatment in Elite Settings: Upward Mobility and Cross-class Interactions

Abstract

Sociological research demonstrates the persistent lack of sociocultural fit the upwardly mobile face within elite settings and how this negatively affects them in numerous outcomes. By contrast, how class mistreatment is (re)produced in routine cross-class interactions within elite settings has received far less empirical attention. Building on 60 interviews, in this article I study how the upwardly mobile experience class mistreatment at selective universities and professional workplaces in Chile. Findings substantiate the continuity of class mistreatment the upwardly mobile face in such elite settings, including various and repeated forms of discrimination and stigmatisation. Findings also show that such class mistreatment is strongly inflected by gender and ethnicity, and plays a key role in shaping the lack of fit the upwardly mobile confront in those elite settings.