The bubble of privilege. Young, privately educated women talk about social class

Abstract

Conceptualisations of the self in relation to others are examined among a group of young women attending a fee‐paying school in England. As part of a larger study exploring intimacy and agency among young women from relatively privileged class backgrounds, 54 young women participated in focus group discussions and interviews. Findings reveal that young women strongly positioned themselves in relation to ‘others’ – both those they saw as ‘chavs’ and young people attending state schools. Yet, just as often, these young women sought to distinguish themselves from other private school peers. Within the privileged bubble the young women inhabited, locations within the wider private school network, type and extent of parental wealth, and fame were all markers used to differentiate the self from others.

Keywords:

• middle class
• private education
• girls
• femininities

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council: RES‐000‐22‐2398. The views expressed are those of the authors alone. Sections of this paper were presented at the Gender and Education Association’s Seventh International Conference, held at the Institute of Education, University of London on 27 March 2009.