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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate Archer’s reflexive modalities in relation to Further Education (FE) students’ higher education (HE) decision-making and choices. To do this, it draws on data from a qualitative, longitudinal narrative inquiry that explored how socioeconomically under-represented FE students made their HE decisions and choices. On a conceptual level, the research aimed to identify whether participants’ HE decisions and choices were individualised or mediated by structure. Margaret Archer’s reflexive modes were adapted to understand, first, how young people made their educational choices and decisions and, second, what role agency and structure played in this process. How participants’ different reflexive modes were interpreted and how this facilitated more intricate understandings of how agency is exerted in the face of structural constraints are discussed. Yet, this paper also critically reflects on and questions the explanatory power of Archer’s work in the context of this research.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 With the exception of her 2012 empirical work with university students as this provides some overlap with my own research in terms of participants’ ages.
2 ‘Russell Groups’ is a colloquialism to refer to HEIs that are members of the Russell Group.
3 Applicants who have not received offers from institutions, or have rejected/withdrawn all of their offers, are able to apply to courses via UCAS where there are spaces remaining.
4 In the case that applicants do not hold any offers, or have withdrawn their offers, they are able to make an ‘Extra’ choice via UCAS.