Profitable portfolios: capital that counts in higher education

Abstract

Under-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. The onus falls largely on students to adapt to established practices that remain strongly oriented towards traditional white middle-class populations. 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 professionally-oriented 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.

Keywords:

• widening participation
• capital
• field
• logic of practice

Acknowledgements

The author's grateful thanks are extended to the participants who generously gave up their time to contribute to this research and to doctoral supervisors Dr Alan Borthwick, Professor Melanie Nind and Professor Debra Humphris. The author also thanks two anonymous reviewers of an earlier draft of this paper whose suggestions helped to develop and improve it significantly.