‘I feel like I have a disadvantage’: how socio-economically disadvantaged students make the decision to study at a prestigious university

Journal article

This paper presents findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis with 20 students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds who were accepted onto a Foundation Year in Oxford University. It explores the factors that impacted on their decision to apply to a prestigious university and student’s views on their transition to the prestigious university. The analysis highlighted four key factors:

(1) The complex relationship students had with their schools and the wider education system;
(2) The strong sense of agency they showed in overcoming a range of systemic and structural barriers;
(3) Social relationships with family members, peers and the wider community;
(4) The importance of the Foundation Year model in supporting transitions to the university.

The identified factors have two key implications: (1) a need to engage in system-wide structural reform that empowers students to develop an agentic approach to HE choices and (2) a need for prestigious institutions to ensure that schools and teachers are empowered with cultural capital and knowledge of the admissions processes to support students’ applications in an equitable way.

Authors: O'Sullivan, K; Robson, J; Winters, N

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Journal: Studies in Higher Education
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 1676-1690
• Publication date: 2018-04-19
• Acceptance date: 2018-03-31
• DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2018.1460591
• EISSN: 1470-174X
• ISSN: 0307-5079
• Keywords: university choice; widening participation; support; student choice; agency