Working-class students and the illusion of freedom of choice in careers

For me, it was always a given: when I grow up, I can become whatever I want. For a while, when I was four or five years old, I wanted to work as an animal keeper later on. Then as a famous singer. Then as a teacher and then as a doctor. And in the last years of my schooling, my current career aspiration started to take shape: I want to earn my living as a journalist. 
Accordingly, I shaped my CV after my A-levels: a gap year after my A-levels, the obligatory self-discovery abroad, unpaid or poorly paid internships and now a degree, because without a university qualification you don't get far in journalism, or so I've been told. And even with a degree, you're on very thin ice, as I could hear: special qualifications, practical experience, ideally international experience are in demand.
Many who want to study as working-class children first have to close a pretty large information gap – and often still struggle with disadvantage afterwards. After all, I belong to the 86 % of students who, according to the German Student Services Organisation (DSW), finance at least part of their lives from their parents' purse. Studying for one or two semesters longer is no problem. Doing another poorly paid internship is not either. A traineeship after graduation is not either. Money plays an important role, but not the only one. I have time. And I know I have to make an effort, but I will receive support for as long as it takes until I'm standing securely on my own two feet.

For me, it was always a given: because that's what I understand by freedom of occupation. I can become whatever I want. Everyone gets the chance to pursue the career they want. But in reality, that's only the case within the privileged bubble in which I live as an academic's child.
Katja Urbatsch also wanted to become a journalist. She also took on a degree for it – which experienced journalists at the time also advised her to do. The difference: Katja Urbatsch was the first in her family to decide to study. And many hurdles made this quite difficult for her. And she's not alone in this. Only 47 % of students come from households where neither parent has an academic qualification. Even though this figure doesn't sound like very little at first glance, it reveals a clear underrepresentation of non-academic children, because their overall share in the age group is 72 %. One foundation that the "working-class children" named by Urbatsch often do not have is an academic network. Which degree programme is actually the right one? What are credit points? How do you write an academic paper? Who can get me a good internship placement? Without experienced relatives or acquaintances who have the time and knowledge to help with advice and support, these questions are not so easy to answer.
The second foundation that must be available to all students is financial in nature. The average cost of living for students is approximately 735 euros per month, according to the DSW. Even with a part-time job, most are therefore dependent on help with financing. In 2016, parents contributed an average of 541 euros towards living expenses – and a large proportion of these funds came from households in the higher educational strata. An alternative to student financing provided by the federal government is supposed to be BAföG. But here too, the DSW's findings are rather disappointing: the proportion of those supported with low educational background has fallen by 14 % since 2012; the average funding amount has decreased by 54 euros. In an alternative BAföG report, critics show how BAföG subsistence rates are systematically calculated too low: whilst an average shared flat room costs 403 euros in rent according to the report, the BAföG housing allowance is 325 euros.
An apparent solution to both problems that many working-class children struggle with – lack of contacts and lack of financial resources – could be a scholarship. Katja Urbatsch even managed to secure a place – in a scholarship programme at Boston University. But unfortunately, she is comparatively alone among working-class children in this regard: although they in particular could often benefit greatly from the offers of a scholarship, according to the taz first-generation academics make up an extremely small proportion of scholarship recipients. At the CSU-affiliated Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, for example, only about 24 % of working-class children are supported. Overall, according to tazresearch, 33 % of those supported are non-academic children.

Katja Urbatsch recognised: many who want to study as working-class children first have to close a pretty large information gap – and often still struggle with disadvantage afterwards. That's why she founded the website arbeiterkind.de thirteen years ago. What was initially intended as a small information portal for first-generation academics has grown at a rapid pace into an organisation with over 6,000 volunteer staff in 75 cities. Here, 30,000 students are advised annually, financially supported and represented in conversations with federal and state parliament members. Needless to say, Katja Urbatsch did not become a journalist either; she is now the managing director of the organisation. In the meantime, she has even received the Federal Cross of Merit for her initiative.
Even if freedom of occupation unfortunately still largely only exists on paper: committed, admirable people like Katja Urbatsch manage to bring it a little bit closer to reality. And that's a good thing, because these working-class children often bring indispensable qualities into their professional lives – as Katja Urbatsch herself formulates it in a guest article for WirtschaftsWoche : "Social background is a strength that harbours competitive advantages and innovative power. People who have prevailed against many obstacles in their lives, who have demonstrated resilience and problem-solving skills, are indispensable today and in the future for society and democracy. It's time that these qualities received greater appreciation."