The thesis draws upon six published and peer reviewed papers and a peer reviewed book chapter. An overview of each paper is followed by the publication and then an explanation of how each has contributed to the emerging research profile and methodology. There follows a critical overview and rationale of the developing and emerging research profile and the move from a constructivist grounded methodology to a Bourdieuian theoretical and methodological position. This thesis focuses on the process of social reproduction and change in the contemporary mountaineering and climbing field. A central theme in this thesis is the relationship between social structure and individual agency. The adoption of the Bourdieuian approach represents a conceptual break with previous understandings of action, agency, objectivism, subjectivism, the individual and society. Habitus becomes a main mechanism to explore and analyse the process of social change and reproduction in the contemporary climbing and mountaineering field. Habitus makes it possible to understand and account for the dynamic and spontaneous actions of individuals as well as the process of social reproduction and change. At the centre of the process of social change is the relationship between the habitus and the field. It is through a detailed analysis of the relationship between the habitus and the field that is possible to understand the process of structural change and the conditions where individuals are most likely and able to challenge doxa. In the modern climbing context, women, particularly from the middle classes, are becoming empowered through the transformation of their bodies and the construction of often complex and contradictory identities. These women are placed to take advantage of new emerging social relations and opportunities occurring as a result of hysteresis. However, this has implications for the identities and position of established climbers, particularly men whose habitus was formed under a previous set of objective conditions, but also other women from subordinate social positions.

Η παρούσα εργασία συνιστά μια προσπάθεια να σκιαγραφηθεί το πολιτισμικό και κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο των εκπαιδευτών και των εκπαιδευτριών ενηλίκων που εργάζονται σε ΣΔΕ, καθώς επίσης να διερευνηθεί η επίδραση του φύλου αναφορικά με την δόμηση αυτών των κεφαλαίων και το πεδίο της εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων. Για την πραγματοποίηση της έρευνας υιοθετήσαμε ποιοτική μεθοδολογία, αξιοποιώντας την ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη ως εργαλείο συλλογής δεδομένων και την ποιοτική ανάλυση περιεχομένου για την ανάλυση των δεδομένων που συλλέξαμε κατά την ερευνητική διαδικασία. Η θεωρία του Pierre Bourdieu χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως ερμηνευτικό πλαίσιο. Το δείγμα της έρευνάς μας αποτελείται από δώδεκα εκπαιδεύτριες ενηλίκων και έξι εκπαιδευτές ενηλίκων. Τα βασικά συμπεράσματα της έρευνας είναι τα εξής: το έμφυλο habitus επηρεάζει περισσότερο τη σύσταση και τον όγκο του θεσμοποιημένου κεφαλαίου, την αξιοποίηση του κοινωνικού κεφαλαίου στο πεδίο της εργασίας τους καθώς επίσης τις πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτών και εκπαιδευτριών ενηλίκων όσον αφορά την επαγγελματική τους εξέλιξη. Το ταξικό habitus φαίνεται να είναι σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό υπεύθυνο για το ενσωματωμένο κεφάλαιο των συμμετεχόντων, καθώς επίσης και του αντικειμενοποιημένου κεφαλαίου τους και της δυνατότητας της «πνευματικής κατανόησης» αυτού. / This paper is an attempt to outline the cultural and social capital of male and female adult educators who are working in Second Chance Schools, and to investigate the effect of gender in relation to the construction of these capitals and the field of adult education. To carry out the research we adopted a qualitative methodology, utilizing the semi-structured interview as a data collection tool and the qualitative content analysis to analyze the data collected during the research process. The theory of Pierre Bourdieu was used as an interpretative framework. The sample of our research consists of twelve female adult educators and six male adult educators. The main conclusions of the research are the following: the gendered habitus most affects the composition and volume of the institutionalized cultural capital, the use of the social capital within the field of their work as well as the practices of male and female adult educators regarding their professional development. The class habitus seems to account for the embodied capital of the participants to a greater extent, as well as the objectified capital and the possibility of "intellectual understanding" of this.