Class Strategies Are Gendered: Female Social Scientists’ Access to Higher Education in Chile

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative study on how female university researchers and professors in social sciences in Chile accessed undergraduate training. It aims to understand what motivated them to choose this academic field and how this decision was articulated with their families’ expectations. The study is framed using Bourdieu´s concepts on class strategies and cultural capital, expanding them from an intersectional perspective. We will analyze how women´s decisions on higher education were influenced by the reproduction of both family trajectories and gender mandates. We will also draw on the role of female figures who inspired them in their educational processes.