<i>La noblesse d'état anglaise</i>? Social class and progression to postgraduate study

Wakeling, Paul

doi:10.1080/01425690500200020

Cited by 43 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…In either case, she suggests, working class students are more likely to be excluded from such education and thus the associated economic rewards. Wakeling's (2005) research has also indicated that there are important social differences in access to further learning -with progression to higher degree study appearing to be heavily influenced by having attended a high status university for one's first degree. While students clearly have a variety of different reasons for pursuing postgraduate-level education, Bowman's (2005) research into the motivations of master's students in two UK universities suggests that all were strongly influenced by the desire to pursue 'distinction' -either within their course of study or the graduate labour market.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of higher education on lifelong learning

Brooks

Everett

2008

International Journal of Lifelong Education

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The UK's National Adult Learning Survey has emphasised that graduates are more likely than other groups of people to engage in further learning, and to be motivated by the intrinsic nature of the subject matter. However, beyond this we know relatively little about the learning of graduates as a specific group. In particular, we know very little about how experiences of higher education affect attitudes towards learning in the years after graduation. To start to redress this gap, this paper draws on in-depth interviews with 90 graduates from six different UK higher education institutions, five years after they completed their first degree. It argues that, in the case of many of these young adults, the influence of higher education on further learning was exerted at three levels, in relation to: the process of learning; the construction of learner identities; and understandings of the relationship between learning and the wider world.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of higher education on lifelong learning

Brooks

Everett

2008

International Journal of Lifelong Education

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“…Jepsen and Neumann (2010) have investigated undergraduate student intentions surrounding decision making to undertake postgraduate study and note that they have broken 'new ground' (p465) in that research, highlighting the 'scarcity' of research in this area. Wakeling (2005) expresses his surprise about the almost total lack of research which explores social class and participation in postgraduate study despite a body of research which demonstrates the influence of class in accessing higher education at undergraduate level. He provides an overview of class participation in postgraduate study but calls for 'further in-depth empirical research' (p521) in order to further understand the relationship between class and study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition to postgraduate study: postgraduate ecological systems and identity

Tobbell

O'Donnell

2013

Cambridge Journal of Education

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This paper explores and examines the distal and proximal systems which construct social science postgraduate study in the UK and analyses the emergent identities of postgraduate students as they negotiate the multiple and interacting practices in their transition to study. The data represent part of a one year research project, funded by the Higher Education Academy, in which staff and students from five UK universities participated. The paper takes a socio-cultural perspective and situates staff and students in the wider macro context of policy and practice surrounding postgraduate study as well as exploring the micro processes which construct the proximal experience of the transition. We argue that the silence surrounding postgraduate transition in the literature must be addressed in light of existing literature and the present research both of which suggest that the systems which construct postgraduate study are complex and challenging to students, who do not always receive the support they require. We discuss the practices which implicitly assume expertise in postgraduate students in contrast to student self-identification as confused and struggling. Commonalities with other educational transitions are identified but we argue that there are distinct aspects to postgraduate transition which require greater breadth of research with both successful and unsuccessful postgraduate students.

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“…Croxford and Raffe (in press) provide strong evidence that pre-1992 universities continue to be dominated by students from the middle classes. Graduates of these universities are therefore more likely to have the material resources within the family to permit a return to postgraduate study, a greater disposition toward extended education (Ball 2003a,b) and sense of academic self-belief (Sullivan, 2006), as well as being able to capitalise on the reputational status of their alma mater (Wakeling 2005). If finding themselves underemployed, returning to study is a comfortable solution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Purcell et al (2012) provide evidence that men, those from high status universities, some ethnic groups and those with high degree classifications are more likely to continue in this way. This could partly explain why there are more women who return, as men are more likely to continue with their education without entering the labour market (Wakeling 2005).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%