Experiencing inequalities in higher education and thelabour market: stories of non-traditional students

• Barbara Merrill ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Warwick

     University of Warwick

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Proceedings of the International Congress on Interdisciplinarity in Social and Human Sciences.5th - 6th May 2016 / coord. por Saul Neves de Jesus, Patrícia Pinto, 2016, ISBN 978-989-8472-82-3, págs. 8-17
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Over the past decades social, economic and political changes have led to the expansion of European higher education while at the same time there has been a policy push for lifelong learning and widening participation. As a result universities are now characterised by a more diverse student population by class, gender, ethnicity and age.

    While doors have opened, studying at university remains a ‘risky business’ (Reay et al, 2009). Cultural differences, particularly for working class students, means that some are like, in Bourdieu’s term, ‘fish out of water’ and a place where inequalities are reproduced. Universities, however, also offer a transitional space for the development of the self and identity.

    This paper focuses on UK data taken from two European research projects: one on access and retention of nontraditional students and the other on the employability of non-traditional students. Methodologically both employed biographical narrative research methods so that student voices were central to the research. Theoretically both drew on the work of Bourdieu (habitus, cultural and social capitals) and the critical theorist Honneth (recognition, respect and self-esteem). Both projects used a critical lens to highlight inequalities in HE and the labour market