Maintaining the status quo: symbolic violence in higher education

Abstract

Government policies and financial imperatives have fostered growing heterogeneity in student bodies in UK and Australian higher education (HE), but the underpinning logic of practice in these long-established social fields is far slower to change. Drawing on empirical evidence from case studies in each nation, this paper examines the tensions between the espoused and enacted values of the academy in relation to the widening participation and internationalisation agendas. We describe the research sites, their relationships with their respective fields of power and the experiences of participants as inhabitants of these HE fields. We highlight the struggles to secure relevant capital, acts of symbolic violence occurring at both institutional and programme levels and the resultant impact on individual positions and trajectories within the fields. Finally, we consider the extent to which the established practices in HE, which naturally preserve the dominance of the dominating factions, are likely to shift to enable it to genuinely enact the social conscience it espouses.

Race, gender and sexuality in student experiences of violence and resistances on a university campus

“…Distinct challenges face higher education in South Africa and research is needed that continues to examine higher education spaces critically and, particularly, the experiences of students who are alienated and marginalised. If higher education institutions are left unexamined and unchallenged, existing oppressive cultures and practices are unlikely to change (Watson & Widin, 2015). In particular, it seems attention should be paid to who is subordinated in higher education, how power perpetuates itself and how it might be undone.…”

“…Bourdieu's definition of symbolic violence, referred to earlier, is closest to explaining participants' experiences in this study. As Watson and Widin (2015) suggest, this definition of symbolic violence is useful for understanding power relations in higher education spaces (Watson & Widin, 2015) and is helpful in exploring participants' experiences. Participants described numerous instances of symbolic violence.…”

“…In prioritising "male-" and "female-only" over gender-neutral bathrooms, university manage ment reinforces the gender binary and delegitimises identities of non-gender binary students, which can thus be seen as a form of symbolic violence. As Watson and Widin (2015) emphasise, many higher education practices (such as the dominance of "male-" and "femaleonly" bathrooms) privilege already dominant groups (i.e. cisgender students and staff).…”

Prácticas Discursivas y Violencia Simbólica Hacia la Comunidad LGBT en Espacios Universitarios

“…It has been shown that educational settings play an important role in legitimizing the knowledge and cultural practices of a community (Lima Júnior, Pinheiro, & Ostermann, 2012;Watson & Widin, 2015). Moreover, Bourdieu and Passeron (1990) argue that this space acts as an apparatus that reproduces the dominant symbolic order of the society to which it belongs.…”