The Dynamic of Social Mobility Through Migration and Higher Education a Study on Indonesian Migrant Workers-Students

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-028-2_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cultural Capital; Higher Education; Migration; Social Mobility

Abstract

To what extent is the social structure fluid? Does higher education offer opportunities to move past it? It has always been a matter of contemporary sociological and political debate. The continuous and rapid technological changes that characterize modern capitalist economies require a highly specialized and skilled workforce. According to this theory, the recruitment of workers cannot be based on consideration of individual descriptive factors, such as gender, social class, or race, but needs to be based on the evaluation of the abilities and skills of workers. In this context, educational credentials are a solid indicator of selecting qualified workers. From the individual point of view, education is also a tool for social mobility. Various explanations have been proposed to describe the mechanism by which social class of origin influences the distribution of educational credentials. This article describes the phenomenon of higher education for migrant workers. Higher education by migrant workers is considered an alternative pathway to social mobility to achieve higher social status. Based on the qualitative research, this article examined the dynamics of migrant worker-students social mobility. A phenomenological approach is used to see the views and experiences of higher education for Indonesian migrant workers. The data are analyzed using Bourdieu’s framework of habitus, arena, and capital to show the dynamics of the struggle of migrant workers. Besides, Baudrillard’s view of hyperreality is used to explain the social position of these dynamics. This research shows that although there is an increase in educational opportunities, it does not automatically make migrant workers’ credentials capital in the labor market arena. The result is significant for designing higher education curricula for particular groups. Higher academic qualifications do not necessarily provide employment opportunities at the same pace. Economic and cultural capital as a consequence of student-migrant workers brings them to the ebb and flow of social status dynamics that have never placed them in the above position.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Muna Yastuti Madrah
AU  - Warsiyah
AU  - Riana Permtasari
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/03/27
TI  - The Dynamic of Social Mobility Through Migration and Higher Education a Study on Indonesian Migrant Workers-Students
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Academia-Based Tourism Revival 2022 (ABTR 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 148
EP  - 159
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-028-2_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-028-2_14
ID  - Madrah2023
ER  -