Navigating the unequal education space in post-9/11 England: British Muslim girls talk about their educational aspirations and future expectations

Abstract

This paper explores educational inequalities through an analysis of the educational aspirations and future expectations of British girls and young women who identify as Muslim. It draws on qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with teen girls (aged 13–19) and young women in their early 20 s living in the north and south of England, the first generation to be considering their future options in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum. The analysis reveals contradictions at the heart of the UK education system in that while Muslim girls are being encouraged to aim high, to be aspirational and successful, they are also tasked with accepting responsibility for the structural and racialised disadvantage that prevents many Muslim women from translating educational success into labour market advantage. The priority given to educational attainment within the current UK education system leaves little space to prepare young women to deal with the potential disadvantage they may face in the labour market. When it comes to the racialised disadvantage that Muslims and minorities face in a post-9/11 and post-Brexit referendum climate, the research revealed gaps and silences which have the effect of responsibilising Muslims students for terrorist incidents when they occur.

Keywords:

• British Muslim girls
• aspirations
• neoliberal education
• 9/11
• Brexit

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The prevent duty which came into force in 2015 places a statutory requirement on schools, colleges and a number of other public bodies including NHS trusts ad prisons to report concerns about people who may be at risk of during to extremism or terrorism.

2 The government defines these as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths. Since 2014, teachers in English schools must promote these British values and their promotion is inspected by Ofsted.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (Grant Ref RF-2016-278\8).

Notes on contributors

Farzana Shain

Farzana Shain is George Wood Professor in Education at Goldsmiths University of London and Visiting Professor of Sociology of Education at Keele University in England. She has researched and published widely in the field of sociology of education including, most recently, from a Leverhulme Trust funded project focused on British Muslim girls’ narrative accounts of living in the shadow of 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’. Farzana’s single-authored books include: The New Folk Devils: Muslim Boys and Education (Trentham: 2011), and The Schooling and Identity of Asian Girls (Trentham: 2003).