>it's the result of a society divided by social class

Isn't it really the opposite?

Pre-industrial revolution, most people would be farmers, and they would learn outside of school nearly everything they needed to know.

Today, it's much more common for people to do something different from their parents, and even if college doesn't put you in an elite group, it gives you the freedom to choose from different lifestyles.

I think people may be oblivious to this if they are a few generations removed from their farming ancestors, such that they never knew a living relative who was the first to abandon their traditional life and get educated and go to the city to work.