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'Bettering Yourself'? Discourses of Risk, Cost and Benefit in Ethnically Diverse, Young Working-Class Non-Participants' Constructions of Higher Education
Louise Archer and Merryn Hutchings
British Journal of Sociology of Education
Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec., 2000), pp. 555-574
(article consists of 20 pages)
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1393382
'Bettering Yourself'? Discourses of Risk, Cost and Benefit in Ethnically Diverse, Young Working-Class Non-Participants' Constructions of Higher Education

British Journal of Sociology of Education © 2000 Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Abstract

'Widening participation' and increasing student diversity are currently key concerns across the higher education sector, and particular attention has been drawn to the persistent under-representation of working-class students within British universities. It is thought that widening participation in higher education (HE) can result in a number of social and economic benefits, at a national level, for under-represented social groups and for individual participants. Less is known about the viewpoints and understandings of working-class non-participants, such as whether 'official' perceptions regarding the value of HE are shared or contested. Focus group discussions were conducted with 109 non-participant Londoners, aged between 16 and 30 years, from a range of working-class backgrounds. Findings focus upon non-participants' constructions of risks, costs and benefits during application, participation and graduation. These perceptions of 'value' are discussed with relation to widening participation strategies amongst ethnically diverse 'working class' groups.
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