Concepciones socioeconómicas en estudiantes de educación media de Viña del Mar: expectativas y aspiraciones de clase

This article studies the perceptions held by high school students in a public school in Viña del Mar (Chile) about their own socioeconomic conditions. The research presents a qualitative case study, elaborated through extracts from ethnographic interviews with students (91). The main objective of the study was to find out what perceptions these students had about their daily social and economic realities, about their immediate future, almost always associated with an idea of a “social elevator” through the world of the university. We saw a strong conceptual normalization of their precariousness and, in some cases, of a worrisome poverty; of how they hide, in many occasions unconsciously, such financial difficulties and harsh social realities with socioeconomic labels such as “middle class”. This research will reflect on the importance of investigating student perceptions under an anthropological, philosophical and historical approach at the same time.