‘Higher than Einstein’: constructions of going to university among working-class non-participants

Hutchings, Michael G.; Archer, Louise

doi:10.1080/02671520010011879

Cited by 73 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…How these processes are enacted by the individual will likely change over time. For instance, the factory worker who enrols on an undergraduate course may find that her course is viewed as "a waste of time" by her co-workers who may prioritise "a proper job" over HE (see Hutchings & Archer, 2001). Conversely, fellow students on her course may collectively speak of the innumerable job opportunities that will arise in the future, which will raise the social status of her student identity.…”

Section: The Identity Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can have implications for the coherence principle of identity, given that some of these identities may come to be regarded as conflicting and incompatible. Indeed, in their study of working-class non-participants in HE, Archer et al (2001) found that the interviewees perceived participation in HE as coterminous with "giving up strong working class identities" (p. 443). The two identities were simply not viewed as compatible.…”

Section: Social Class: Managing Multiple Roles Responsibilities and mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As two topic areas that have been the focus of previous research into the experience and management of diversity in HE (e.g. Archer et al, 2001;Levin et al, 2009), these case studies are intended to provide fresh insights into the potential antecedents and consequences of threat and coping strategies in HE. This is important because diversity in HE can pose challenges to identity and induce deflection and disengagement among some students.…”

Section: Challenges To Identity In the He Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, social class has been the focus of several research studies concerning diversity in HE, primarily because it remains a social psychological category to which many students themselves lay claim (e.g. Archer et al, 2001;Ball et el., 2002;Reay et al, 2010).…”

Section: Social Class: Managing Multiple Roles Responsibilities and mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constructing and protecting identity in a diverse higher education context

Jaspal

2015

Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education

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UK higher education (HE) has become increasingly diverse. Despite the clear social, economic and pedagogical benefits of diversity, it can also be challenging for identity as it may bring about psychological change and compel both the "dominant majority" and "minorities" to adjust to the presence, identities and worldviews of the other. Drawing upon Identity Process Theory from social psychology, the present article explores the potential challenges to identity in a diverse HE context and how students may subsequently cope with these challenges. After a brief overview of Breakwell's (1986) Identity Process Theory, two case studies are presented, namely how social class and ethnic/religious diversity can impact identity. The more general aim of this article is to develop the basic tools for enhancing students' learning experience in a diverse HE context. It is suggested that HE institutions need to support students from diverse backgrounds in ways that are conducive to a positive identity, and that they must facilitate a shared superordinate identity which can be viewed as inclusive and available to all, regardless of class, ethnicity, religion or any other identity.

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Section: The Identity Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Class: Managing Multiple Roles Responsibilities and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges To Identity In the He Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Class: Managing Multiple Roles Responsibilities and mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Constructing and protecting identity in a diverse higher education context

Jaspal

2015

Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education

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“…Despite the many interrelated personal factors affecting WP patterns, which include worries about the cost, needing to work, and fear of failure and/or fitting in (Hutchings & Archer, 2001;Reay et al, 2008), research also suggests that WP in higher education has also consistently been affected by entrenched educational inequalities (Archer, 2003;Burke, 2005;Reay et al, 2005;Allen & Ainley, 2007;Ball, 2008). For example, the link between lower academic achievement at A Level and lower socio-economic status is well documented (Reay, 2006;Ball, 2008).…”

Section: The Distribution Of Wp In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Let the Right Ones In!’: Widening Participation, Academic Writing and the Standards Debate in Higher Education

French

2013

Power and Education

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This article challenges the frequently expressed concern that widening participation has contributed to a general 'dumbing down' of higher education in English universities. In particular, it explores the implications of a long-standing 'moral panic' about the poor quality of students' academic writing, particularly in the post-1992 'new' universities, which have been raised in various academic reports and countless media articles. A vampire metaphor is used throughout the article to highlight ways in which assumptions about these falling standards in undergraduates' academic writing feed on the foundations of a long-standing, albeit implicit, distrust of the growth in the sector on elitist, ideological grounds. The article investigates how academic writing practices, whilst difficult to define, nonetheless wield a 'disciplinary power' over lecturers and students. This includes a discussion about how a situated, New Literacy Studies approach to academic writing development challenges the view that students' academic writing standards are falling. The article suggests that all universities have a responsibility to acknowledge and develop the different literacies that students, especially widening participation students, bring with them to university.

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Expressions of student debt aversion and tolerance among academically able young people in low‐participation English schools

Jones

2015

British Educational Res J

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The 2012 rise in student fees, from £3375 to £9000 per year, made England one of the costliest places to attend university in the world. Drawing on evidence from higher attaining young people attending low-participation schools, this paper renews established types of student debt aversion and tolerance, with sensitivity towards whether they reflect the (financial) 'price' of participation or the (cultural, social) 'cost' of participation. Findings point to a complex web of inter-related factors informing a decision-making process that is rational, but often lacking detailed knowledge of key variables, such as the range of bursaries and grants available and the terms of the loan repayment. The Ellsburg Paradox is invoked to explain the tendency of some young people to self-exclude, contrary to rational choice theory. For those without family support or precedent, participation is not greatly incentivised by assumed lifestyle and identity gains, and generous repayment concessions for low-earning graduates do not necessarily ease anxiety about debt. Data point to a heightened awareness of labour market alternatives and of continued disquiet, both academic and non-academic, about 'fitting in' at university. Naturally, higher fees demand a recalculation of return-on-investment estimates for all young people. However, the participation 'bet' of those from low-participation schools is framed in ways unacknowledged by (and sometimes discordant with) dominant public discourses.

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‘Higher than Einstein’: constructions of going to university among working-class non-participants

Cited by 73 publications

References 19 publications

Constructing and protecting identity in a diverse higher education context

Constructing and protecting identity in a diverse higher education context

‘Let the Right Ones In!’: Widening Participation, Academic Writing and the Standards Debate in Higher Education

Expressions of student debt aversion and tolerance among academically able young people in low‐participation English schools

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