Symbolic violence in education refers to practices that do what?

• A. Limits social mobility
• B. Harms working class
• C. Both limits social mobility and harms working class
• D. Increases student autonomy

Answer: (C)

Symbolic violence in education describes how power is exercised through valued symbols, language, and cultural expectations within schooling, in a way that students come to accept as legitimate. In practice, classrooms and curricula often reward middle-class cultural capital—the ways of speaking, knowing, and behaving that align with prevailing norms. This creates a hidden curriculum that privileges certain backgrounds and dispositions, while students from working-class or marginalized backgrounds are disadvantaged even without overt coercion.

Because these practices shape what counts as “success” in schooling, they reproduce social inequality across generations. The result is a reduced ability for students from less-advantaged backgrounds to move upward socially—that is, limited social mobility. At the same time, the working class can be harmed by being positioned as less capable or less legitimate within the educational system, reinforcing stigma and lower expectations.

Autonomy is not increased here. Instead, symbolic violence tends to promote conformity to dominant norms and limit students’ sense of agency, as they internalize judgments about what counts as legitimate knowledge and worth. Therefore, the best answer is that symbolic violence in education both limits social mobility and harms the working class.