To walk invisible: distance students in a dual-mode university^*

* The title of the article; ‘To walk invisible’, is taken from a BBC production ‘To walk invisible’ on the lives of the Bronte sisters, which aired on 29 December 2016.

Abstract

This paper argues that dual mode provision has a critical role to play in widening participation. The mixed methods study drew on institutional records, an online survey (n = 126) and 17 semi-structured interviews to explore the participation experience of a group of distance graduates (n = 268) from a dual mode university. Derived from the theories of Bourdieu, a social reproduction framework was employed, using the concepts of habitus, field and capital. Findings indicate that graduates shared a predominantly working class background. They chose a dual mode university as they did not want their degree seen in any way as different from those of conventional university graduates. During their participation they experienced a sense of belonging to their peer group, but not to the university. They perceived themselves to have been less important to the university than full-time students and felt excluded from institutional supports. Implications for dual mode provision are drawn from the findings.

Keywords:

• Graduates
• distance
• social
• capital
• field
• dual mode

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable and insightful comments received from Dr Tony Mays and two anonymous reviewers on early drafts of this article.

Notes

* The title of the article; ‘To walk invisible’, is taken from a BBC production ‘To walk invisible’ on the lives of the Bronte sisters, which aired on 29 December 2016.

1. While there is no single agreed definition of social class, occupation and educational attainment are the most widely used indicators in census classification and other research.

2. ‘We can indeed, with caution, compare a field to a game (jeu) although, unlike the latter, a field is not the product of a deliberate act of creation, and it follows rules or, better, regularities, that are not explicit and codified’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992, p. 98).

3. This analogy was first introduced by Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992, p. 127): ‘When habitus encounters a social world of which it is the product, it is like a ‘fish in water’: it does not feel the weight of the water, and it takes the world about itself for granted’.