'Classification' and 'Judgement': Social class and the 'cognitive structures' of choice of Higher Education

Abstract

The issue of social-class-related patterns of access to Higher Education (HE) has become a matter of public debate in the UK recently, but is on the whole portrayed one-sidedly in terms of issues of selection (elitism), and the social dimensions of choice are neglected. Here, drawing on an Economic and Social Research Council research study, choice of HE is examined using Bourdieu's concepts of 'classi cation' and 'judgement'. HE is viewed in terms of its internal status differentiations. Students' positive and negative choices are addressed using qualitative and quantitative data, and the 'accuracy' of status perceptions are also tested. It is argued that choices are infused with class and ethnic meanings and that choice-making plays a crucial role in the reproduction of divisions and hierarchies in HE, but also that the very idea of choice assumes a kind of formal equality that obscures 'the effects of real inequality'. HE choices are embedded in different kinds of biographies and institutional habituses, and different 'opportunity structures'. Downloaded by [North West University] at 13:40 22 December 2014 52 S. J. Ball et al.Nonetheless, in this paper we begin to sketch out sociology of choice in relation to the eld of HE. Three main theoretical resources are deployed in this sketch. First, there is the work of Bourdieu, and speci cally his writing on distinctions (Bourdieu, 1986a) and the 'logic of practice ' (Bourdieu, 1990). Like many others, we nd Bourdieu 'enormously good for thinking with' (Jenkins, 1992, p. 11). We argue that the perceptions, distinctions and choices of HE institutions used and made by students play a part in reconstituting and reproducing the divisions and hierarchies in HE. It is in this way that they 'do' or embody social structures. In effect, this is social class 'in the head'. As Bourdieu explains:

The role of familial habitus in shaping children's views of their future employment

“…In relation to HE choice, Ball et al (2002) suggest a relationship between family and institutional habitus, as embedded expectations make particular choices obvious and others unthinkable.…”

“…Children are expressing their imagined futures, based on 'family scripts' (Ball et al, 2002) which comprise economic, social and cultural resources developed within the family. However, this is not to say that what children believe is (im)possible currently will always be so, but to demonstrate that the influence of the family should not be lost in wider analyses of social, economic and political processes acting at the macro level.…”

“…The pattern of employment followed by a woman's mother has been shown to be one of the key factors in influencing women's own decisions to work (Jenkins, 2002) and is found in the accounts of Gemma and Wayne: HPW: Do you think it makes any difference that she [grandma] Children express their anticipated future to be predictable, rooted in the wellestablished lifeworlds of their family, following a 'normal biography' which in some cases, follows gendered traditions (Ball et al, 2002;Du Bois-Reymond, 1998). The type of employment characteristic of this chain was also important to children.…”

“…Aspirations are complex understandings of the future pathways available to people, influenced by individual experiences and those of the family, which emerge within particular social, economic and cultural circumstances (Ball et al, 2002). In her study, Crompton (2000) identifies sectoral differences in the values, aspirations and expectations of different (adult) middle class groups towards work-life reconciliation, contributing to the intergenerational transmission of occupational types and affecting social mobility.…”

“…For Ray and Chesney, socialisation within the family is bound up with the habitus, directing them towards professional employment whilst the same process acts to make routine and craft work more appealing to Sophie and TJ. In their study of Higher Education (HE) choices, Ball et al (2002) show how the narratives of middle-class young people are characterised by an absence of decisions and reflect family traditions, contrasted with the doubts and deliberate decisionmaking of working-class young people who are the first generation of their family to consider HE. As a result, the (non)decision to follow a professional career path is easier for some individuals.…”