Wie erfolgreiche Bildungsaufstiege zustande kommen und wodurch sie gefördert werden können

How Successful Educational Upward Mobility Is Achieved and How It Can Be Facilitated
How can educational upward mobility be very successful when the starting positions are not very promising? The article outlines which resources contribute to successful educational upward mobility, drawing on 58 interviews with students and scholarship recipients of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation) who had experienced educational upward mobility in Germany at the time the data was collected (2011). Three requirements for mobility (“ability”, “motivation”, “opportunity”) and three types of mobility (“envoy”, “backpacker” and “emigrant”) that build on them are identified and characterised, thereby allowing a better and more concrete understanding of the relationships and dependencies between social class of origin, factors that facilitate mobility and educational path. Each specific case of educational upward mobility that was investigated names a group of different resources that ultimately results in one of the three requirements for educational upward mobility (“ability”, “motivation”, “opportunity”) being met. It becomes apparent that the group of students who experience educational upward mobility is by no means homogeneous. In addition, the educational orientation of their parents is also critical to their educational trajectory. (Ed.)