The Working Classes and Higher Education: Meritocratic Fallacies of Upward Mobility in the United Kingdom

Autor/in	Reay, Diane
Titel	The Working Classes and Higher Education: Meritocratic Fallacies of Upward Mobility in the United Kingdom
Quelle	In: European Journal of Education, 56 (2021) 1, S.53-64 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Reay, Diane)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0141-8211
DOI	10.1111/ejed.12438
Schlagwörter	Working Class; Social Mobility; Foreign Countries; Middle Class Culture; College Students; Student Experience; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Arbeiterklasse; Soziale Mobilität; Ausland; Collegestudent; Studienerfahrung; Großbritannien
Abstract	The uniformly positive view of social mobility in the United Kingdom overlooks the difficulties working-class young people have in reconciling a working-class background with the middle-class environments of the university and the professional labour market. But even more hidden are the subtle processes of exclusion and exclusivity that permeate social life in, particularly, the elite universities. Here, working-class students' marginalisation in relation to advantageous social activities and networks, compromises their chances of later success in the labour market. This paper scrutinises working-class students' experiences of elite higher education through the lens of Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, capitals and field. Drawing on a research project on working-class young people who gain entry to elite universities it analyses the disjunctures between working-class habitus and the field of elite higher education, focusing on the emotional and social consequences for working-class students. The findings raise concerns--largely unexplored in existing research--about working-class reception in elite fields. The paper concludes with a call to look beyond the attitudes and actions of working-class students to those of their upper- and middle-class peers, and the culture and ethos of the elite universities. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01