‘You are a worker, stay a worker’: a Bourdieusian analysis of inequality in vocational education in Türkiye

This study examines how Vocational Education Centres (VECs) in Türkiye contribute to the reproduction of class-based inequalities. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital, and field, the study explores how institutional arrangements and workplace practices shape students’ educational trajectories. A phenomenological design was employed, based on interviews with seven VEC coordinators working in different districts. The findings indicate that students in VECs are predominantly drawn from lower socio-economic backgrounds and are guided toward vocational pathways following experiences of academic difficulty. Workplace practices vary significantly, with many students positioned as a flexible labour force rather than learners, limiting their access to both technical and cultural forms of capital. Differences between enterprises further create unequal learning opportunities within the system. The study also shows that vocational education may normalize restricted aspirations and reinforce existing class positions.