German 4 Dummies: "bildungsfern"

Another day, another German compound.

Like several other words in our German 4 Dummies series, it didn't seem remarkable until usage patterns took shape. Made up of the words "Bildung" (education) and "fern" (remote, distant), "bildungsfern" is widely used to denote less well educated, educationally disadvantaged sections of the population.

Did we see potential euphemistic use at work? Checking on Wikipedia, the euphemism warning was right there in the very first paragraph.

The term treats higher education as the only relevant form of education. If you have a highschool degree or a GED, or dropped out without a degree, that's where "bildungsfern" is used.

Which immediately prompted our TheEditor to growl: goes to show how German elites are "bildungsfern". More research led us to a reader article in the weekly Zeit, in which a reader using the alias "responsum" tries to make sense of the term. In passing, responsum calls politicians "bildungsfern", putting a damper on the smart self image of our TheEditor.

Responsum comes to the conclusion that "less well educated, educationally disadvantaged" do not adequately describe the term. Responsum maintains that it should be understood as "intentionally staying away from education" because many parents with low formal education encourage their children to do better, to go on to college and beyond.

While some scholars still use "bildungsfern" as short hand for lower formal education, the term is widely used in clearly disparaging and xenophobic statements, as synonym for freeloaders, illegal immigrants, or the poor in general.