ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to contribute to the social studies of finance by systematically analysing and untangling the respective effects of class, gender and race on the jobs occupied by individuals at an early stage of their career in two occupational niches of finance: wealth management and portfolio management. It sketches the vertical differentiation that exists within each speciality in terms of both occupations and professional expectations; the better-off students occupy the most prestigious jobs of the labour market. The chapter describes the great variety of activities, occupations and career paths in wealth management and portfolio management. It outlines that both programs are socially mixed, but involve a different representation of women and non-nationals. The interviewees' early occupational trajectories confirm that women feel more comfortable in Wealth Management than in Portfolio Management. For the students in Portfolio Management who work in capital markets, the activities related to back/middle office activities are much less valued than those attached to front offices.
