Re-thinking aspirations through habitus and capital: The experiences of British-born Bangladeshi women in higher education

Ethnicities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenice Scandone
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Female Undergraduate ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
Minority Ethnic ◽  
Capacity To Aspire ◽  
Ethnic Origins

Since the turn of the century, young people’s aspirations have featured prominently in UK education policy and practice. Governments of all sides have espoused a rhetoric and enacted initiatives which have tended to focus on somehow ‘correcting’ the aspirations of students of working-class and minority ethnic origins. This paper applies a Bourdieusian framework to the analysis of the education and career aspirations of British-born young women of Bangladeshi heritage in higher education. In doing so, it advances a theoretically informed understanding of aspirations, which accounts for the multiple factors that contribute to shape them as well as for the relative implications in terms of future pathways. Drawing on interviews with 21 female undergraduate students, and building on Bourdieu’s notions of habitus and capital, I conceptualise aspirations as an aspect of habitus. I argue that this conceptualisation allows light to be shed on the ways in which multiple, intersecting dimensions of social identity and social structures play out in the shaping, re-shaping and possibly fading of aspirations. Additionally, it enables us to examine the mutually informing influences of aspirations and capital on practice. Findings indicate that the valuing of education and social mobility expressed by those of Bangladeshi and other minority ethnic origins are integral to collective constructions of ‘what people like us do’, which are grounded in diasporic discourses. They also illuminate the significance of social and cultural capital for young people’s capacity to aspire and actualise aspirations, as these contribute to delineate their ‘horizons for action’. This suggests that by failing to adequately recognise how structural inequalities inform differential access to valued capital, prevailing policy and practitioners’ approaches attribute excessive responsibility to students and their parents. The notion of ‘known routes’ is in this respect put forward as a way to make sense of aspirations, expectations and pathways, and the role of institutions in forging possible futures is highlighted.

scholarly journals What moderates the attainment gap? The effects of social identity incompatibility and practical incompatibility on the performance of students who are or are not Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Frings ◽  
Ilka H. Gleibs ◽  
Anne M. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
First Year ◽  
Registry System ◽  
Attainment Gap ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Minority Ethnic

Abstract A successful journey through higher education is, for many, a once in a lifetime opportunity for social mobility. Unfortunately, one notable feature of higher education systems is that students from some backgrounds do not achieve the same academic attainments as do others. The current study tests the role of one particular set of processes: social identity (in)compatibility on academic performance. Participants were recruited at two time points from a pool of first year undergraduates at a modern London University (N = 215) of which 40.1% were classed as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME), 57.1% as non-BAME and 2.8% did not provide this information. A prospective design was employed: Alongside demographic data, measures at the start of the academic year consisted of measures of student and ethnic identity, and both practical and identity incompatibility. At the end of the academic year, average marks achieved were gained for each student from the university’s registry system. Results indicate that BAME students had equal levels of student identity to non-BAME students, but higher levels of ethnic identity. They also typically experienced higher levels of both practical and identity incompatibility. Finally, BAME students had lower attainment than did non-BAME students. Both practical and identity incompatibility appeared to moderate this effect. However, contrary to predictions, it was only under conditions of low and medium levels of incompatibility that BAME students attained lower marks than their non-BAME peers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals ‘I'll play the game, but I cannot stay’ : The role of third space professionals in encouraging the retention, success and sense of belonging of undergraduate students

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Hughes ◽  
Debra Cureton ◽  
Jenni Jones
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Educational Provision ◽  
Academic Coach

In 2019, a diverse, post-92, Midlands university implemented a new, hybrid third space role called the ‘academic coach’ (AC) to support its mission towards to support its mission to make its educational provision fully accessible to all its students, to retain them and to ensure their success to support its mission to make its educational provision fully accessible to all its students, to retain them and to ensure their success of all its students. Since a sense of belonging to their institution is such a powerful influence on students’ sense of wellbeing, their development of an academic identity and their resilience in the higher education context, with consequent positive impact upon their retention and success, this role is devoted to the pastoral care and personal tutoring of levels three and four students. This case study considers the journey of the AC in defining and shaping this new role and offers the ACs’ perceptions of their influence on the experience of students at levels three and four by enhancing collaborative and learning relationships within the wider university.

scholarly journals Perceived Discrimination and Motivation to Pursue Higher Education in Ethiopian-Origin Students: The Moderating Role of Ethnic Identity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ortal Slobodin ◽  
Tamar Icekson ◽  
Lee Herman ◽  
Ofri Vaknin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Career Motivation ◽  
Personal Career ◽  
The Relationship

Research has increasingly recognized the adverse effects of perceived discrimination on the academic outcomes of children and adolescents from ethnic and racial minority backgrounds. However, little is known about the association between perceived discrimination and the motivation of ethnic minority students to pursue higher education. Guided by an academic resilience framework, the current study examined the relationship between perceived discrimination and two types of motivation to pursue higher education (personal/career-driven and expectation-driven) among Ethiopian undergraduate students in Israel. In addition, we examined the role of ethnic identity as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants were 183 undergraduate students of Ethiopian origin (77% females) who studied in 18 different higher-education institutes. Participants completed self-report questionnaires concerning their experiences of perceived discrimination, affiliation with their Ethiopian identity, and their reasons for pursuing higher education. Results showed that frequent discrimination experiences were positively related to a stronger ethnic identity and to higher levels of personal/career motivation to pursue higher education. Ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and personal/career motivation so that the association was significant under low and moderate levels of ethnic identity but not under high levels. Our findings suggest that the awareness of discrimination may motivate students to pursue higher education and succeed in academia. However, the motivating force of perceived discrimination diminishes under high levels of ethnic identification. Further investigation is needed to explore how discrimination and ethnic identity work together to impact academic motivation in different developmental stages and socio-cultural contexts.

scholarly journals Authentic experiential work in the socialisation of undergraduate students: an EHEA-framed epistemological consideration

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Martínez Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Curriculum Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Growth ◽  
Epistemological Foundation ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
Education Process

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is adamant about the role of employability in curriculum development and the overall education process of undergraduate students. This responds not only to the current emerging models of economic and social growth but also to an underlying epistemological shift regarding the very nature and characteristics of Education. This article provides the epistemological foundation of the said shift, arguing, from a post-positivist perspective, how authentic experiential work in the classroom may contribute to the progressive socialisation of students into their respective communities of practice, thus bridging the gap between the labour market and the education institutions.

scholarly journals Concern, Conception, and Consequence: Re-thinking the Paradigm of Higher Education in Dangerous Times

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Modern Economy ◽  
Closed World ◽  
Value Shift ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Educational Thinking

Discussion of the role of universities in relation to broad issues of sustainability has been current for some decades, although predominantly at the margins of debate and policy. Yet a recent rapid rise of concern—catalyzed by mounting evidence of climate crisis, biodiversity loss, pandemic disease and further systemic issues -is focusing renewed attention on the adequacy of the response of higher education to unprecedented times of urgency, uncertainty and threat. Whilst it is now widely acknowledged that the fate of the planet and of humanity hangs in the balance, there still remains an astonishing disconnect between pressing signs of global change, and the relatively closed world of higher education. A trend toward greening universities' operations is positive, but fails to engage or galvanize the cultural and value shift toward a holistic and ecological zeitgeist that is now necessary to generate widespread institutional systemic change. This paper delves into deep causal factors that have historically impeded the ability of universities to respond fully and effectively to present and probable future realities, pointing to the foundations of Western thought such as reductionism, objectivism, dualism, individualism, anthropocentrism, rationalism, instrumentalism and technocentrism that shape mainstream education policy and practice, overlain and reinforced in more recent times by neo-liberal conceptions of the purpose of universities in a modern economy. It is argued that these elements of our culturally shared worldview constrain our ability to perceive and respond deeply, fully and wisely to the global predicament, but also maintain destructive patterns of development. Whilst there is increasing acceptance that education must “transform” in order to—in turn—be transformative in effect, there is less clarity about the guiding assumptions and ideas that inform mainstream policy and practice, and about the philosophic value bases that can facilitate transformative educational thinking, policy and practice. A framework of three broad and complementary components of paradigm—Concern, Conception, and Consequence—is employed to outline the shape of the systemic paradigmatic shift that universities need to urgently navigate in order to maximize their ability to respond fully to contemporary socio-economic and ecological conditions and trajectories.

scholarly journals EXAMINING THE BARRIERS TO REPORTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN UNIVERSITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-84
Author(s):  
Sarah Ssali ◽  
Agnes Namaganda ◽  
Ronald Bisaso
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Public University ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Female Undergraduate ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

Purpose: Universities have responded to sexual harassment by putting in place formalized reporting processes through which victims can seek redress. Despite these processes, victims seldom invoke the grievance handling mechanisms that are enshrined in university sexual harassment policies. This study therefore sought to investigate why the vice is grossly under reported. Given the asymmetrical relationship between students and faculty as well as the gendered position of female students, this study specifically focused on why female undergraduate students seldom reported faculty perpetrated sexual harassment. Methodology: The study was carried out at a large public university in East Africa, was purely qualitative and involved 42 participants who included students, members of faculty and university administrators. The data was analyzed thematically Findings: These indicated that institutional and social cultural barriers coupled with power asymmetries and financial inadequacy play a role in the non-reporting of sexual harassment amongst female university students. Unique contribution to policy and practice: These findings are beneficial to universities especially as they seek to revise their existing sexual harassment policies. University managers ought to ensure that complaint handlers are well positioned to fairly handle sexual harassment complaints. This may help victims to build trust in the grievance handling mechanisms thus encouraging them to report the vice

scholarly journals The role of academic electronic books in undergraduate students' achievement in higher education

Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. e05550
Author(s):  
Najeh Rajeh Alsalhi ◽  
Sami Al-Qatawneh ◽  
Mohd. Eltahir ◽  
Fayiz Althunibat ◽  
Khaled Aljarrah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Electronic Books

scholarly journals Preparing Students for Success in a Changing World: The Role of Virtual Whiteboards in the Modern Classroom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Systems ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Changing World

Information communication and technologies (ICT) as a facilitator of active learning (AL) in higher education is becoming an increasingly important tool. One of the most significant developments with the use of ICT in higher education over the last decade has been the integration and application of e-learning systems to support the processes of teaching and learning. The implementation of ICT into the classroom should not be seen as merely an add-on, but should be included with purpose: meaningfully implemented based on pedagogy. Despite the suggested power of ICT in educating students for a modern future, the implementation of these technologies into the classroom is not as widespread as expected; debate still abounds as to what role ICT should play in the classroom. This research examined a variety of dependable attributes that assessed the engagement of undergraduate students (n1=87) through virtual whiteboards. This quantitative inquiry revealed that students perceived virtual whiteboards as beneficial for their learning and improved their engagement level in the classroom. Furthermore, a correlation between the level of engagement and the year of study was revealed as the primary implication of this research.

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