Seite - (000115) - in Knowledge and Networks

107 the everyday socioeconomic practices of fi nancial elites need to be understood in relation to the geographically specifi c understandings of what constitutes legitimate behavior in any given spatially situated economy. This raises signifi cant questions about the role of education in reproducing these understandings because its part in inculcating early-career elites into the accepted and legitimated forms of action within—as regards this chapter—the City of London. Second, and following on, Bourdieu highlights through his work on doxa the situated nature of elite action . By considering the situated and co-constitutive characteristics of education and doxa in a particular fi eld, it becomes possible to highlight the causes of geographically var- iegated elite practice. The research I present in the rest of this chapter develops these insights by exam- ining the role of post-fi rst-degree (undergraduate) education in shaping the beliefs , attitudes , and working practices of earlier-career fi nancial elites in the City of London. In other words, I seek to address in this chapter how education is used to inculcate these elites into the situated nature of legitimate socioeconomic activity in London’s fi nancial district. In so doing, I challenge assumptions that education facilitates the reproduction of a globally homogeneous elite class, entry into which has become more meritocratic because of the declining importance of educational background. Rather, I use these theoretical insights to reveal the ways in which elite fi nancial work combines both topological and topographical components at differ- ent stages in the career life course to enhance social and spatial mobility for some while restricting it for others. Researching Early-Career Financial Elites in London’s Financial District The analysis below is based on original empirical research conducted with early- career investment bankers and others professionals in London’s international fi nan- cial district. The research centered around 105 interviews conducted with that can be broken down into: investment bankers working in London at an early stage in their careers to discuss their postgraduate education and training experiences (53 interviews including U.K. and non-U.K. nationals); human resource managers in investment banks in London (6 interviews); educators and managers of for-profi t fi nancial business education fi rms in London (10 interviews); and lecturers and managers in international business schools (36 interviews). Interviews were tran- scribed in full and analyzed iteratively, with theoretical frameworks used to guide the initial coding. All respondents have been made anonymous and unidentifi able in the analysis below. These interview datasets were triangulated with desk-based reviews of: investment bank and education providers’ websites to gather informa- tion about the wider educational landscapes available for early- career investment bankers; business and specialist new providers to document recent developments in postgraduate education and training in elite fi nancial labor markets; policy 6 (Post)graduate Education Markets and the Formation of Mobile Transnational…