Profitable portfolios: capital that counts in higher education

Abstract

Word count: 7944 including abstract, key words, acknowledgements and reference list. 2 Profitable portfolios: capital that counts in higher educationUnder-representation in UK higher education of students from less privileged social backgrounds is an enduring problem. While there are examples of productive participation, the pattern of collective trajectories of this group differs sharply from that of traditional entrants (Reay 2006). The onus falls largely to students to adapt to established practices which remain strongly oriented towards traditional white middle-class populations (Read et al. 2003, Burke 2005).Bourdieu's theory of practice informed the analysis of data emerging from a longitudinal case study and empirical insights are offered into how students with non-traditional academic backgrounds experienced and negotiated the demands of studying in one of the UK's research-intensive universities. A new conceptual framework identifies academic, linguistic, social and professionallyoriented capital as underpinning the logic of practice of this sub-field of higher education, and their influence on the positional tendencies and trajectories of the students operating within it are highlighted.

Maintaining the status quo: symbolic violence in higher education

“…The volume and composition of individual portfolios of capital were, in keeping with Bourdieu's premise, reflected in the different positions and trajectories of participants within the field (Watson, 2013;Watson et al, 2009), and Tracey's story clearly illustrates the impact of symbolic violence upon an individual and the possibilities that are available to them. The findings raise questions about the extent to which widening participation policies can achieve their ambitions when the dominant culture and practices of the HE field are so well-established and naturally oriented towards the preservation and privilege of the most powerful factions.…”

“…With a recognised impact on the efficacy of pedagogic communication (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977), the UK study identified a clear and important relationship between linguistic and academic capital: the former influenced the accessibility of the latter, particularly when there was a significant difference between the linguistic capital deployed by staff as more dominant voices in the field and that of individual students (Watson, 2013). Variations in participants' portfolios of linguistic capital shaped their engagement with various learning activities.…”

“…As the UK study highlighted (Watson, 2013), academic capital can be understood as a type of cultural capital that encapsulates the nuanced forms of academic skills and knowledge valued in its students by a particular field or sub-field, which logically translates into academic attainment. Similarly, linguistic capital is noted to encompass aspects of the form and content of language valued within the field including, for example, grammar, linguistic repertoire, forms of phraseology, and the tone, mode and style of written and verbal expression (Bourdieu, 1991;Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977).…”

“…Emerging from analysis was a clear picture of the forms of capital profitable within, and underpinning, successful engagement with the field participants had entered (see Watson, 2013 for a full account). Although it is not possible within the scope of this paper to do more than provide some brief illustrative examples, it was clear that social background and habitus shaped existing portfolios of capital and the way that they developed as participants struggled to secure legitimacy within the field.…”

“…With both studies reported fully elsewhere (Watson, 2013;Watson, Nind, Humphris, & Borthwick, 2009;Widin, 2010), we provide here brief descriptions of the case study sites and their relationships with their respective fields of power before offering more detailed accounts of the research participants as inhabitants of these HE fields. We examine the challenges of accumulating relevant capital, the struggles encountered and the positions and trajectories of individuals and groups within the fields, finally considering the scope for changing the established logics of practice.…”