Demystifying Oxbridge: a qualitative video analysis of information sharing strategies by student vloggers for prospective applicants

Abstract

Oxford and Cambridge receive much criticism over the social selectivity of their intake, to which both institutions have responded by admitting more applicants from non-traditional backgrounds. While university-led outreach strategies appear to have made a difference in diversifying their student body, little is known about the role of student-led interventions. This study fills the gap by drawing upon social capital theory to explore how and why student vloggers (StudyTubers) at Oxbridge are sharing their insider knowledge to inform and inspire prospective applicants. Content from nine of the most viewed videos created by three of the most popular Oxbridge StudyTubers were selected for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that StudyTubers share their content for the purpose of normalising the Oxbridge student experience and encouraging applications from those who might otherwise have self-excluded themselves. Implications for widening access to Oxbridge are identified, and the value of non-traditional outreach for non-traditional students is discussed.

Keywords:

• Higher education
• widening participation
• university choice
• role models
• YouTube

Introduction

Entry requirements for Oxford and Cambridge – jointly referred to as Oxbridge – are high, as is competition for places, and many of these are disproportionately taken up by students from fee-charging schools (Boliver 2004; Zimdars 2010; Sutton Trust 2016). Both universities thus face much scrutiny as a result of their socially and academically selective intake, which critics consider to be unreflective of the UK’s general population (Chester and Bekhradnia 2009; Boliver 2013; Blackman 2017). Effort has since been made to redress these concerns and diversify their student bodies through a number of outreach interventions such as summer schools, which enable young people without family experience of higher education to learn about life at university through taster lectures and short-term stays in student accommodation (Sutton Trust 2021). Other initiatives such as foundation years – introduced at Oxford in 2016 and to be launched at Cambridge in 2022 – adopt a more long-term focus by preparing disadvantaged but academically capable young people for undergraduate-level study (Fisher and Begbie 2019; University of Cambridge 2021).

Although progress has been made in terms of state school representation, problems in the broader widening participation context persist. Geographical disparities are one example, as London and its surrounding areas continue to receive more targeted outreach engagement than other UK towns and cities. Consequently, pupils from the affluent South East England region are still more likely to apply and gain acceptance into Oxbridge than those in the more deprived North East England (Montacute and Cullinane 2018). Loss of access to outreach activities during the COVID-19 pandemic has also made reaching these neglected communities more challenging, and may result in further disengagement of key target groups should schools prioritise formal education over widening participation to catch up on learning lost through lockdown (Montacute and Holt-White 2020). The need for outreach is therefore more crucial than ever, and while moving the delivery of existing face-to-face initiatives onto online platforms has had some difficulties, it also offers new possibilities for making information about higher education more accessible to prospective students (Rainford 2021).

Such changes are reflective of how outreach delivery in general has begun to shift from university-led to student-led, as seen with the growth of websites like InsideUni and Zero Gravity, where current students share insider knowledge on getting into Oxbridge with prospective applicants. This knowledge is also made available by students who document their academic journeys on YouTube – otherwise known as student vloggers or StudyTubers – to inform and inspire fellow learners. Their content is produced independently without official university affiliation, and contains in depth advice on how to navigate the application process and the norms of student life. The importance of these student-led initiatives should not be overlooked for enabling those from backgrounds that are under-represented at Oxbridge, such as low socioeconomic status students, disabled students, care experienced students, and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students (Office for Students 2020) – in other words, non-traditional students – to overcome the barriers to access.

Despite the relevance of this topic, scholarly research on the growth of student-led outreach remains sparse. This study aims to extend existing literature in widening participation by exploring information sharing strategies and motivations among students vloggers, and identifying the types of information being shared. Based on qualitative analysis of video data from popular Oxbridge StudyTubers, this paper argues that alternative outreach initiatives offer considerable value as a means of increasing access to Oxbridge, and that StudyTube could potentially be considered as a missed opportunity for student recruitment. It first provides a brief overview of StudyTube before addressing the barriers that typically cause non-traditional students to self-exclude themselves from Oxbridge. It draws upon social capital to demonstrate the difference that role models, both physical and virtual, can make to prospective students, then goes on to outline how and why specific StudyTubers and their content were chosen. Findings are discussed on how knowledge made available in these videos helps to demystify and normalise the Oxbridge experience. They offer a number of implications for current understandings of the university decision-making process, and indicate the importance of online social influences for encouraging non-traditional students to be more ambitious in their university choices.

StudyTube as a form of student-led outreach

StudyTube – a portmanteau of study and YouTube – is an online community of students who post motivational and educational videos on how to make the most out of life at university. Study related content is a niche but growing interest on social media that initially emerged on photo sharing platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram in the early 2010s, where users would post aesthetically pleasing pictures of their study spaces and offer suggestions for effective study methods. This community has also been active on YouTube since 2015, where the most popular student vloggers reach over a million subscribers. StudyTubers attend universities from all over the world, and although the countries and the contexts from which they upload videos may differ, their content is remarkably similar in terms of what they create. This commonly features advice videos, where students share study tips and revision hints, day in the life videos, where the audience follows them around campus as they attend lectures or extracurricular activities, and study with me videos, where they film themselves writing essays or preparing for exams in real time. Other videos focus more on the student lifestyle, where viewers follow vloggers through events such as welcome or introduction weeks – also known in the UK as freshers’ week, a period that occurs at the start of the academic year to orient new students – and ceremonies like graduation to celebrate the completion of their degree.

There are a variety of reasons why viewers engage with such content, but the main appeal for many is its relevance to their personal circumstances. Unlike teachers or other authority figures, vloggers are closer in age to their viewers, and seeing fellow learners going through a similar experience at a similar life stage offers a sense of reassurance to those who are also preoccupied with academic work (O’Sullivan et al. 2017). So too can being part of a community that shares the same enthusiasm for study in the virtual world, especially for viewers where learning may not be valued or encouraged in a physical setting. Young people are also curious about the social aspects of university, and StudyTube is one way of easing their anxieties about what the student experience actually consists of (Sharma 2019). Accommodation move-in videos showing what to pack – and perhaps more crucially, what not to bring or spend money on – are particularly popular, and offer useful preparation on leaving home for the first time for those in need of practical guidance.

Barriers to access at Oxbridge: information and identity

Some viewers benefit more from this content than others, namely those without family experience of university who tend to face more difficulty when researching their options for higher education (Choy 2001; Reid and Moore 2008; Byrom and Lightfoot 2012). Unable to access ‘hot knowledge’ or insider information from university-educated parents or siblings, they instead rely more on impersonal ‘cold knowledge’ sourced from websites or league tables, which is less personalised and specific to their individual needs (Ball and Vincent 1998). This puts prospective applicants at a disadvantage in the case of Oxbridge, where having a family member who attended either institution significantly increases the likelihood of gaining a place there (Reay, David, and Ball 2005, 66). Teachers and career advisors also play a key role in guiding these pupils on the most effective combination of A Level subjects or how to write a strong personal statement, but this playing field is far from level, as the type of school attended largely determines the rate of Oxbridge applications and acceptance.

Unlike their fee-charging counterparts, state-funded schools are less well placed to offer tailored advice on the preparation required for Oxbridge, which usually involves written tests and interviews with academics (Ridley et al. 2005; Dunne, King, and Ahrens 2014; Sutton Trust 2019). Teachers without knowledge of this specialised admissions process may perceive it to be intimidating and opaque, while some discourage pupils from applying altogether by steering them instead towards less ambitious choices (Thiele et al. 2017). Shielding their charges from Oxbridge and its elitist reputation can be viewed as an attempt to ‘keep students ‘safe’ from potentially alienating and uncomfortable experiences’ (Oliver and Kettley 2010, 751), but one that also results in young people internalising the message that Oxbridge is not something they can realistically aspire to.

Psychological constraints, or perceived incompatibility with the culture of a university, therefore shape expectations about what is possible for ‘people like us’, and explain why so many non-traditional students purposely limit their horizons when applying to university, regardless of attainment (Hutchings and Archer 2001; Ball et al. 2002; Munro 2011). Attitudes towards higher education are often influenced by how socially and ethnically homogenous an institution is, and whether an individual feels as though they will fit in with or stand out from the wider student community (Reay 1998; Read, Archer, and Leathwood 2003; Reay, Crozier, and Clayton 2010). They consequently place more value on social match than on branding or prestige, and perceive a greater sense of belonging in the more inclusive and diverse populations found among lower ranking universities, where non-traditional students are more likely to be concentrated (Thomas 2002; Atkinson 2011).

How certain universities are presented in the media can also factor into differential application behaviour, with Baker and Brown (2007, 377–378) pointing out the ‘remarkable lack of attention to the imagery surrounding university choice and how it intersects with questions of culture, economic privilege and socio-demographic division’. The portrayal of Oxbridge and its students in literature, film and TV is largely based on stereotypes, some less flattering than others, but these depictions are still grounded in reality to some extent when accounting for real-life representations of its alumni (Watts 2009). The current Conservative party is still dominated by Oxbridge graduates, while the old boy network further lends itself to the preservation of privilege, and of a specific type of person – one that is white, wealthy and male – perceived as being Oxbridge material (Donnelly 2014). This image of exclusivity reinforces the perception of Oxbridge as something out of reach, at least to those who do not fit the aforementioned background characteristics, and illustrates why so many choose to self-exclude themselves from even applying there (Rusbridger 2018).

One way of challenging these negative perceptions is through role model interventions, where current students talk at open days or provide testimonials about their lived experience of higher education. Current students are generally regarded as a more trustworthy source of information by those from non-traditional backgrounds than official university promotional material, which may be viewed as biased or open to manipulation (Slack et al. 2014). They also prefer knowledge that is relevant to their needs and concerns, and preferably from those with elements of perceived similarity, such as gender or ethnicity (O’Sullivan et al. 2017). Shared identities can therefore be useful in developing a better feel of fit towards the type of universities a non-traditional applicant might otherwise perceive as being unwelcome of their social, cultural and educational background. Conversely, emphasis on difference rather than sameness can decrease the authenticity of an information source, as Gartland observed in a 2015 study exploring the effectiveness of student ambassador outreach in deprived regions of the UK. Sending students from prestigious universities into local partner link schools was found to be less impactful at encouraging pupils to aim higher with their university choices when both parties struggle to identify with and relate to each other. Pupils were viewed by some students as being ‘a bit rough’ (1203), while students were likewise treated with suspicion and hostility by pupils, thus driving home the perception of prestigious universities as somewhere they would not belong.

Theorising university choice in the age of social media

In other words, who information is presented by matters, and young people tend to accept this more readily from someone they perceive as being credible and trustworthy. Where information is presented appears to be equally significant in shaping attitudes and behaviours, but while the transfer of knowledge about university from current students to prospective applicants in a physical setting has been well documented (Castleman and Page 2015; Campbell and McKendrick 2017; Sanders et al. 2018), less is known about how this takes place in a virtual environment. Much of the existing research into YouTube focuses on marketing and consumerism, but findings are equally transferrable to the StudyTube context, as developing a strong connection with an online personality through elements of relatability can positively influence an individual’s outlook and opinions (Batra and Keller 2016; Hill, Troshani, and Chandrasekar 2017; Lou and Yuan 2019; Munnukka et al. 2019), be it towards a brand, a product or even, in the case of Oxbridge, a university.

Vloggers achieve this by establishing what Horton and Wohl (1956, 215) define as parasocial interaction to ‘give the illusion of a face-to-face relationship’ between viewer and content creator. Speaking directly into the camera when filming their videos, usually from the privacy of the vlogger’s own bedroom, creates an air of intimacy that strengthens the viewer’s impression of being treated as an individual, as opposed to simply one of many (Tolson 2010; Allen and Mendick 2013; Hodkinson 2017). Openness of communication, where a vlogger shares candid details about their personal lives, also allows the formation of a connection akin to one of friendship, despite they and the viewer never having met before in person (Ferchaud et al. 2018). Thinking of student vloggers as a friend gets viewers emotionally invested in their academic journey, as following them through various milestones, from entering university to graduating from it, makes it feel like a shared experience (Labrecque 2014).

This type of personal portrayal leads to the perception of student-authored content as being a more transparent reflection of the student experience, which can be very different from what is marketed by universities to applicants (Morris and Anderson 2015; Gibson 2016). Unlike other social media platforms where users carefully curate their experiences to show only what they want others to see (Vogel et al. 2014), content creators on YouTube are frank about their vulnerabilities and insecurities, which again increases the level of engagement among their audience (Arthurs, Drakopoulou, and Gandini 2018). StudyTubers talk openly about their successes as well as their setbacks, and the willingness to be honest about their struggles and hardships, whether these involve being rejected from a university they had their heart set on or receiving a disappointing grade, makes their experiences relatable by painting a realistic picture of the highs and lows of student life (BBC News 2019a).

Making insider knowledge more accessible therefore opens up opportunities that would otherwise be available only to those with advantageous social networks, and while social capital theory is still a useful tool for understanding university choice (Bourdieu 1986), its traditional conceptualisation does require some upgrading for the social media generation. Social capital has historically been associated with the accumulation of resources – namely practical advice, emotional support and contacts or connections – drawn from an individual’s personal relationships with family and friends (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992), all of which enable prospective applicants to make informed choices about their options for higher education. Social media, however, has since transformed the process of how social capital is acquired (de Zúñiga, Barnidge, and Scherman 2017), and access to information about university is becoming easier than ever for non-traditional students (Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe 2007; Johnston et al. 2013; Wohn et al. 2013). Prospective applicants are increasingly using social media to fill the gaps in their knowledge, and the role of online influencers in university choice is likewise becoming an area of interest to scholars in educational inequalities (Brown, Wohn, and Ellison 2016; Gist-Mackey, Wiley, and Erba 2018).

The most obvious difference between contemporary social capital and its classical counterpart, then, is the space where knowledge transfer occurs, with the former taking place in a virtual environment where information is shared through online social networks, while the latter functions in a physical one where information is exchanged in-person through offline social networks (Williams 2006). Motivations for sharing knowledge also differ, as offline social capital operates in a closed space where information is restricted to existing personal relationships, whereas online social capital inhabits a more open space where information is distributed willingly to whoever might be in need it (Chiu, Hsu, and Wang 2006). This shows echoes of the internet in its infancy, with notions of voluntarism and reciprocity enabling knowledge to be freely distributed from one stranger to another (Mathwick, Wiertz, and De Ruyter 2008), and explains why tutorial, or ‘how to’, videos continue to rank so highly among the most popular categories of YouTube content (Think with Google 2018).

Research questions

Student vloggers appear to post videos for similar reasons, according to earlier research on this topic. Snelson (2015) was one of the first to investigate YouTube as a form of school-related vlogging, and noted some interesting differences in the type of content being created and the motivations for sharing this between vloggers in compulsory education and vloggers in higher education. While school pupils mainly vlogged about their personal lives for entertainment purposes, university students vlogged about the practicalities and realities of their course for educational purposes. Vloggers from the latter group were keen to share information about their own lived experiences of navigating university with prospective applicants as a way of preparation both for student life and for the demands of their course.

This virtual contribution of knowledge, created by students for students, is consequently relevant to the UK higher education context, due to much of the existing research on this topic having been conducted within a US setting. Studies also tend to focus on specific social networking sites for so-called ‘college knowledge’ sharing such as Facebook (Wohn et al. 2013), or on the use of multiple social media platforms to disseminate information about university (Gist-Mackey, Wiley, and Erba 2018). There remains a paucity of scholarly research on how current students and recent graduates are utilising video hosting sites like YouTube to help viewers bridge the information gap on university options, although this trend has not gone unnoticed by British media outlets (BBC News 2019a, 2019b; Sharma 2019; Stokel-Walker 2019; Farag and Mararike 2020; Lozinski and Huskisson 2020).

In order to address this gap and explore both the type of content being created about Oxbridge and the motivations of StudyTubers for making this available to their viewers, the following research questions were formulated:

RQ1: What information is being shared by StudyTubers about the Oxbridge student experience and why?

RQ 2: How might information about the Oxbridge student experience be useful to non-traditional students?

Methods

Data collection and analysis

Given the exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative analysis of video content was considered appropriate for understanding how and why Oxbridge students use YouTube as a way of helping prospective applicants like themselves to overcome the barriers to access. Purposive sampling was chosen to target a specific subset of StudyTube – those with direct experience of having studied at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge – with the aim of selecting the most relevant and illuminative cases (Marshall 1996). An initial YouTube search was conducted in February 2021 to identify StudyTubers by using the search terms ‘Oxford vlog’, which produced 198,000 results, and ‘Cambridge vlog’, which revealed 302,000 results.

The search was then filtered to sort results by channel rather than individual videos, which produced 70,300 results for ‘Cambridge vlog’ and 90,900 results for ‘Oxford vlog’. These channels were then screened for appropriateness, and any that did not meet the study’s first inclusion criteria – student vloggers who currently attend or have recently graduated from Oxford or Cambridge – were rejected. Any official accounts belonging to either of these universities were also excluded, with only personal channels being considered. The remaining channels were sorted by subscriber count, and those with fewer than 100,000 subscribers were disregarded to capture the most influential StudyTubers with the largest audience. This resulted in a total of 6 eligible student vloggers, 3 from Oxford and 3 from Cambridge.

Ethical approval was sought by the Research Ethics Committee at the researcher’s university before gathering and analysing any data, and consideration was given at length regarding the ethical implications of conducting research on specific social media platforms. The need for additional questioning was driven mainly by lack of consensus within the academic community over how data on YouTube should be collected (Patterson 2018), with some arguing that issues of data protection and confidentiality need not apply to videos that are publicly available (Markham 2012). This view asserts that if a vlogger does not make their videos private, then informed consent is not required for content that has been made accessible to all in the public domain through YouTube’s fair use policy (Bruckman 2004). Ultimately, the choice lies with individual researchers on how best to proceed, and according to Jang (2011), ‘seems to be a personal decision rather than a formalised requirement’ (6).

Ensuring confidentiality by anonymising the student vloggers chosen for this study would have been difficult due to the amount of personal information included on their channels, such as their real names, university attended and degree enrolled on. In addition, the level of media coverage these vloggers have received from national news sources like The Guardian and the BBC has further elevated their status as public figures operating in a public capacity. Their recognisability was not the only problem, because as Murthy (2008) points out, some content creators view YouTube as a closed space and may not be amenable to, or comfortable with, their content being utilised for research purposes. The decision was therefore made to contact StudyTubers to inform them of the study’s aims and explain why their channels had been chosen. Explicit consent was also requested for them to be made personally identifiable and for excerpts from their videos to be used in the research (Legewie and Nassauer 2018). 3 of the 6 eligible StudyTubers gave their permission and their details are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1. StudyTube channels.

Name	University	College	Degree	Student status	Subscribers
Eve Bennett	Oxford	Lady Margaret Hall	German and Spanish	Current student	234K
Paige Yallop	Cambridge	Jesus	Natural Sciences	Graduated 2020	192K
Varaidzo (Vee) Kativhu	Oxford	Lady Margaret Hall	Classical Archaeology and Ancient History	Graduated 2020	192K

The above subscriber count was taken at the time of this study – February 2021 – and numbers may have risen or fallen since then.

As with channel selection, videos from each StudyTuber’s account were filtered according to whether or not they met the inclusion criteria. Only videos specifically about their experience at Oxbridge were considered to be appropriate for answering this study’s research questions. The following video categories were therefore excluded due to their irrelevancy: (1) A Level related content, (2) general study and revision tips, (3) lifestyle and fitness, (4) travel, (5) fashion (6) life updates unrelated to university. The remaining eligible videos were sorted in order of popularity, as those with the highest number of likes and view counts were deemed to be most indicative of audience engagement levels (Chatzopoulou, Sheng, and Faloutsos 2010). A total of 9 videos were chosen for this study, 3 from each StudyTuber’s channel. All videos were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used to interpret the findings (Braun and Clarke 2006). Excerpts chosen for illustrative purposes were labelled with both the StudyTuber’s initials and the video number to demonstrate its origin.

Findings and discussion

Demystifying the Oxbridge experience

Videos chosen for this study typically fell into one of two categories: personal, where StudyTubers talked about their journey to and life at Oxbridge, and educational, with StudyTubers offering advice or raising awareness of certain issues. All three StudyTubers spoke candidly about the purpose of their content, which had been created to inform, inspire, encourage and reassure prospective applicants. Based on the popularity of videos documenting move in day and freshers’ week, viewers appeared to be more interested in finding out about the social and cultural aspects of Oxbridge than learning how to apply there. This was unsurprising in light of how difficult the transition from school to university can be for non-traditional students when making the adjustment to different academic cultures, practices, and even terminology (Christie et al. 2008; Briggs, Clark, and Hall 2012; Jack 2014).

Information on how to navigate the norms of student life is particularly pertinent with universities like Oxbridge, where young people are often exposed for the first time to insider codes such as term names (Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity for Oxford, and Michaelmas, Lent and Easter for Cambridge) and matriculation (officially enrolling for a degree). The ceremony that marks a student’s admission – one that involves the use of Latin and formal gowns – can seem somewhat surreal to individuals without prior exposure to such pomp and circumstance, as Eve demonstrates in a video reacting to Oxford stereotypes.

Matriculation - I get that because that’s, like, a Latin word to matriculate into a uni, like, to enrol, but again it’s just, like, a really fancy word, isn’t it, and the ceremony is so weird. Like, each college is on a rotating basis and you go into this big theatre called the Sheldonian and they literally do just speak at you in Latin, and then suddenly you’re just magically a member of the university. It is very bizarre. (EBV3)

Academic traditions are part of what makes Oxbridge so unique, and can be intimidating to those from non-traditional backgrounds. These cultural differences were too much for some participants in an earlier study by Reay et al. (2001) to overcome, with one applicant actually rejecting their offer from Cambridge due to their perception of it being ‘too old fashioned’ and ‘from another time altogether’ (870). Eve, however, admitted to enjoying such customs, despite their strangeness, and went on to speak positively about her experience of similar practices like having to wear formal dress and colour coded carnations during exams, along with the tradition of trashing, which celebrates their conclusion by students spraying each other with foam or alcohol.

I like sort of getting dressed up for an exam. It makes me feel like I’m in, like, an exam mode and - I’ll show you photos of, like, what I look like for exams - and sort of me getting trashed as well. I also had eight or nine three-hour exams last year, which was… It was - it was fine, but yeah, it’s really nice at the end because you get covered in, like, shaving foam and, like, you jump in the river. (EBV3)

Oxbridge is also famous for its social rituals such as formal halls, where attendees adhere to specific dress codes and dining etiquette (Macfarlane 2009). The aristocratic values and heritage practiced at Oxbridge are again more aligned with what students from fee-charging schools experience (Anderson 2007; van Zanten 2009), a culture that those from state school settings may find baffling at best and unwelcoming at worst (Dacin, Munir, and Tracey 2010). Attitudes towards formal dining were mixed in research by Di Domenico and Phillips (2009), where some participants described it as a fun opportunity to play dress up, while others saw it as something outdated and antiquated, or ‘like being at a medieval banquet’ in which they were ‘playing a part in a play or period drama’ (335).

Similar to Eve, Vee acknowledged the idiosyncrasies of these rituals but also looked back fondly on her experiences with them. She neither felt excluded from nor alienated by these, and stressed how much effort her college had made to ensure that everyone was able to participate, regardless of income or background. These findings align with those by Baker and Brown (2007), whose non-traditional student participants were attracted to, rather than deterred by, the cultural and social practices at Oxbridge, and did not associate them with the ‘usual mantle of exclusion and snobbery’ (382).

I think Oxford is actually quite fancy in terms of, like, the extravagance of it. Like, we wear ball gowns, we go to dinners, we have people speaking Latin before you eat and then you have to, like, stand up and someone bangs something before you sit down … Yeah, it’s nice to get to a ball, it’s nice to dress up. Like, I do enjoy that and I like it when it’s accessible for everyone, so like, when they make it affordable or when they make it something that anyone can join in regardless of, like, how much money you have. (VKV1)

Documenting their own real-life accounts of the Oxbridge student experience enables StudyTubers to reveal what goes on behind closed doors by letting those from under-represented backgrounds not only know what to expect, but also know what would be expected of them in these scenarios. For students who have never partaken in fine dining before, these videos can introduce them to a whole new world of etiquette, such as knowing which items of cutlery to use at a three-course meal or learning about the dress code for evening events. Explaining the rules of the game to people who have not previously been privy to it makes it less intimidating, and helps to allay their concerns about the kind of environment on offer at Oxbridge.

Normalising the Oxbridge experience

As discussed earlier in this article, it is not unusual for state school educated pupils to self-exclude themselves from Oxbridge due to lack of encouragement from their teachers (Oliver and Kettley 2010; Donnelly 2014). Vee spoke at length about her experience of this in her videos, but unlike those who set their sights lower after being talked out of applying to prestigious universities, she refused to accept the narrative that young people from her social background should not perceive themselves as being Oxbridge material. Rather than internalising this message, as many in her situation would have done, the ‘desire to prove other people wrong’ (Thiele et al. 2017, 58) motivated her instead to resist it by exploring alternative routes into Oxford, which led her to discover its foundation year programme.

I spoke to my teachers - you guys know the story - they said no, all that kind of stuff. I didn’t do it. And then in my second of A Levels, I thought to myself, I’ve robbed myself of an opportunity here . . . No one can tell me it’s because you come from this background, that you can’t do this . . . If I want it, I’m gonna have to try and get it and somehow find a way to overcome those barriers, so when she said no to me, that I can’t go to Oxford because it wasn’t for people like us, I just. . . To this day I didn’t get why she would say that to me. I was like, I’m not gonna have that, that’s not acceptable, like, a student should be able to aim as high as they want to. (VKV2)

This aligns with findings by O’Sullivan, Robson, and Winters (2019) where students from non-traditional backgrounds who do manage to gain a place at Oxbridge often feel let down by their schools, and have to overcome barriers to access without direction or reassurance. The language they use is almost combative in nature when they mention having to ‘‘go against’ their teachers, having to ‘fight’ the system, and needing ‘determination’ to succeed’ (1682), which indicates that more should be done to help talented young people realise their ambitions. StudyTube is one potential solution, and also coincides with Vee’s motivation for starting her channel. Having accumulated the social capital required for navigating Oxford’s application process and its institutional culture, she now bequeaths it to others like herself by offering the practical advice and emotional support that much of the state school system lacks.

Trailblazers like Vee are also contributing their insider knowledge to student-led projects like the Inside Uni or Zero Gravity websites by providing the kind of tailored application advice that would previously have been restricted to fee-charging schools. Students share good and bad examples of their own interview experiences, offer subject specific information, and signpost visitors to useful resources, all of which aim to support those from disadvantaged backgrounds from application to graduation (Ferguson 2020). Recent media coverage illustrates how influential StudyTube has been in viewer development goals, with current offer holders crediting these content creators for inspiring them to aim higher and increasing their confidence to achieve greater academic success (Farag and Mararike 2020; Lozinski and Huskisson 2020).

Why should students from my area feel as though a place like Oxford, or whatever you want Oxford to represent – it could be Durham, Exeter, LSE, Cambridge, anywhere – why does that have to be such a faraway, unattainable thing? So, I decided to start YouTube, and as you guys know, all of the content is very much geared towards education, academia, how you can apply for stuff, personal statements, all of that jazz. So, doing YouTube really, really helped in all of this journey in terms of it allowed me to express myself to help students. (VKV2)

Vee then went on to discuss the effectiveness of StudyTubers as role models, firstly by enabling applicants to envisage themselves at prestigious institutions, and secondly by influencing them to pursue the kind of ambitious goals that other people might dissuade them from. Broader widening participation research corresponds with this study’s social capital approach by highlighting how peer support and mentorship from affinity groups – those with shared characteristics and aspects of identity – and those from similar backgrounds who have undergone similar hardships and share similar concerns about standing out at highly selective universities can smooth the transition and foster a greater feeling of fit (Robinson and Salvestrini 2020). This is all the more relevant with Oxbridge, because as Kettley and Murphy (2021) argue, traditional outreach activities alone are not enough to resolve its diversity deficit and remove what they claim is the greatest deterrent for non-traditional students: the fear of not fitting in.

I think it’s really important for young people to have mentors or people that represent them in spaces like that because I know it would have made such a difference for me, and it was just very scary, so when I started my channel, I was like, I want to bridge that gap. I want to be that person that people can look to before they start thinking about applying and feeling a little bit more comfortable when they see me being unapologetically me in a space that historically rejects me. (VKV2)

Such fears are amplified at universities like Oxbridge, due to the negative cultural images associated with them, and although the majority of offer holders from state school backgrounds do eventually adapt to their new environment, the initial culture shock experienced during the first few months should not be underestimated. A study by Perez-Adamson and Mercer (2016), for instance, reveals that students entering Cambridge from the state school system are less prepared to meet its social demands and academic investment than those coming in from the private and independent educational sector, experience higher levels of anxiety upon arrival and find the transition more difficult. Lack of support or acknowledgment of their unique circumstances by the university was also a factor in why those from state school backgrounds initially struggle to adjust.

StudyTubers can therefore help non-traditional students feel less out of place in selective institutions, and foster the belief that ‘people like us’ really do belong there. Representation is crucial for challenging false perceptions and negative stereotypes of what an Oxbridge student actually looks like, which is often more diverse than many have been led to believe (BBC News 2019b). Increasing the visibility of non-traditional students helps to normalise the Oxbridge experience, and showing young people a positive example of what they can aspire to lets them feel as though they can overcome adversity too (Palmer and Gasman 2008). Seeing someone like themselves succeed academically by being admitted into these elite universities and even thrive there socially instils the confidence to follow in their footsteps (Sanders and Higham 2012; Baars, Mulcahy, and Bernardes 2016), and demonstrates effectively how social capital can be mobilised as a form of psychosocial support (Kay and Wallace 2009; Moschetti et al. 2018).

Whereas Vee’s channel is geared largely towards motivational content, Paige’s channel offers more practical advice for applicants. One of her most requested videos addresses the issue of finance, which can deter non-traditional students from Oxbridge almost as much as its reputation, and again resonates with similar findings from widening participation research. The perception of affordability plays a crucial role in shaping university choice, with non-traditional students being more financially and geographically constrained due to work commitments or family obligations (Reay et al. 2001; Donnelly and Gamsu 2018). The UK’s highest-ranking universities are located in three of its most expensive cities, referred to as the so-called ‘Golden Triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge, whose high living costs lead many prospective applicants to rule them out of consideration.

It ain’t cheap, let me tell you. I always get a lot of questions from people asking me about the cost of my studies … In this video, I just want to set it out clearly for everyone and be as transparent as possible … On average, I am spending £4,633 on my accommodation per year. I don’t like saying these figures out loud because it just sounds like such a lot of money … Most students pay a kitchen fixed charge each term which is about £180. This then subsidises our meal costs at the cafeteria. (PYV3)

Just as Vee disproves any misconceptions around the type of person considered as being Oxbridge material, Paige makes content specifically to tackle the assumption that universities like Oxford and Cambridge are financially out of reach to socially disadvantaged young people. She takes great lengths to reassure viewers that, because of their short-term structure and subsidy systems, such institutions can actually be more affordable than other higher education providers. Her video breaks down not only the overt costs of attending Cambridge – primarily accommodation charges – but the hidden costs that might not be common knowledge such as college membership fees. She also raises awareness of how financial support is not always explicitly advertised, and again stresses that Oxbridge can be more affordable than many people think.

Nobody should be stopped from going to university because they can’t afford it … If you do feel like you can’t afford it, look into things like bursaries, scholarships … I also hope that this video helps dispel the myth that Oxford and Cambridge are way more expensive than other universities because they’re really not. (PYV3)

As such, the main benefit of StudyTube is its capacity for knowledge transfer – a means of addressing practical needs – and psychosocial support – a means of addressing emotional needs. These findings are significant given that the way young people seek out information about higher education is changing, with so-called digital natives are more likely to consult social media for answers to their questions about university due to its convenience and immediacy of response (Cooper 2017). Institutions have reacted accordingly with the creation of social media accounts manned by dedicated response teams (Kelleher and Sweetser 2012), which are utilised not only as an information sharing resource but also as part of their student recruitment strategy. Connecting with applicants on the platforms that they are most active on allows universities to engage with their target audience more effectively, with YouTube in particular facilitating interaction through likes, shares and the commenting feature (Burgess and Green 2009; Chau 2010; Dynel 2014).

This interactivity allows for greater involvement, unlike traditional outreach activities which can seem depersonalised or too broad in focus, as viewers have more freedom to participate and tailor these channels of information to their specific needs. StudyTubers also facilitate transfer of knowledge by encouraging their audience to suggest topics for future videos, which are then addressed through Q&A (question and answer) or AMA (ask me anything) sessions (Cunningham and Craig 2017). For those who are first in their family to attend university, the ability to gain insider information from current students or recent graduates can potentially lead to a life-changing experience (Reid and Moore 2008; Robinson and Salvestrini 2020).

Conclusion

Theoretical implications

This study offers a novel conceptual and methodological contribution to scholarly debate in widening participation through its exploration of information sharing strategies by current students and recent graduates from Oxbridge for prospective applicants. Findings demonstrate that knowledge made available on StudyTube vlogs contain two different forms of social capital resources, the first of which offered practical guidance and advice for viewers, while the second provided emotional support and encouragement to aim higher with their university choices. Content from all three student vloggers was created to reassure prospective applicants of the attainability and affordability of Oxbridge by directly addressing the issues that might otherwise have caused them to self-exclude such as financial concerns (Reay et al. 2001; Donnelly and Gamsu 2018), fear of standing out (Reay 1998; Ball et al. 2002; Munro 2011; Reay, Crozier, and Clayton 2010), and negative cultural stereotypes (Donnelly 2014; Rusbridger 2018).

Vloggers also spoke extensively about their own experience of the academic traditions and social rituals associated with Oxbridge, which served the purpose of demystifying the norms of student life there by taking insider knowledge previously restricted only to those with favourable private connections and making this more accessible to a wider public audience. Motivations for sharing information were again driven largely by lived experience, this time with a shift in focus from how they had survived at Oxbridge to how they had arrived at Oxbridge. One vlogger in particular was passionate about encouraging viewers to overcome the barriers to access after having been discouraged by teachers from making an application, as reflective of previous studies (Oliver and Kettley 2010; Thiele et al. 2017), and advocated strongly for them to realise their ambitions rather than constraining their expectations.

‘Be the change you want to see’ was a recurring theme with this vlogger, as findings effectively indicated how representation is key for widening participation at Oxbridge (Baars, Mulcahy, and Bernardes 2016; Gartland 2015; Sanders and Higham 2012), and that relatable role models such as the trailblazing StudyTubers in this article, can make a positive difference by inspiring others like themselves to follow in their footsteps. Findings were also consistent with previous research that credits role models and mentors in shaping the decision to apply to Oxbridge for non-traditional students (O’Sullivan, Robson, and Winters 2019), and for increasing enrolment rates at selective universities more generally (Sanders et al. 2018). Moreover, they demonstrate the value of non-traditional forms of outreach for non-traditional students, and highlight the relevance of upgrading the traditional conceptualisation of social capital theory for the social media generation. If the ways in which young people access information about university are changing, then it would be prudent for theoretical underpinnings of university choice to change too.

Limitations and recommendations for future research

Meanwhile, findings offer practical implications for universities at the student recruitment and widening participation level by inviting StudyTubers to discuss their experience of higher education as guest speakers or appear in promotional material. Involving student vloggers in outreach strategies would potentially enable higher education institutions to reach a larger audience, and offer a more flexible, accessible and inclusive form of engagement. This may, however, risk diluting one of the main strengths of this medium – its transparency and authenticity – if student vloggers were to establish more formal links with universities. Becoming an official representative of their institution would also mean abiding by marketing and messaging guidelines, again potentially reducing perceptions of trustworthiness that stem from the freedom to speak openly about their experience (Campbell and McKendrick 2017; Slack et al. 2014).

The unaffiliated status of student vloggers thus presents an interesting challenge to widening participation practitioners – the people responsible for overseeing positive change at elite universities like Oxbridge – to determine whether there have been any previous attempts to include StudyTubers in university-led initiatives and, if so, what level of success they achieved. This stakeholder group is ideally placed to offer insight into the specifics of delivering outreach, yet their voice remains largely absent from the academic literature (Burke 2012; Mahony and Weiner 2019; Rainford 2021).

Findings also create a basis for future research seeking to extend upon this paper’s conceptual novelty by gaining insight from other stakeholder groups in student-led outreach – in other words, the viewers who engage with university related content. Exploring attitudes towards StudyTube among current Oxbridge students is therefore recommended to discover the full extent of its transformative potential, and whether or not this can be attributed to higher enrolment rates among this target demographic (Robinson and Salvestrini 2020). Doing so would enable a better understanding of how effective online influencers are at breaking down barriers to Oxbridge, and of their function as a new form of social capital for the social media generation.

Due to the exploratory nature of this study, its sample size was small even for a qualitative investigation, and contained only the more renown Oxbridge StudyTubers. Most of these have already graduated, although a number of new student vloggers have since emerged, having likely been inspired by the big-name channels. Their low subscriber counts prevented them from being included in this analysis, and they could have offered some important observations on the impact of ethnicity and social class on student life at Oxbridge. The study was also limited by its decision to focus solely on the Oxbridge student experience, and analysing a more extensive range of content may have encouraged a broader picture of their entry into and progression out of Oxbridge to emerge. An online ethnography approach would have significantly widened this paper’s scope, for example, had it chosen to examine not only the influence of StudyTube on facilitating access to elite universities but also to elite careers.

While Eve was still in the process of completing her bachelor’s degree at the time of this study, Vee and Paige have both since graduated, and their content has changed accordingly to reflect the change in both vloggers’ circumstances. Paige now documents life in her new job as a trainee actuary, while Vee is studying a master’s at Harvard and continues to share her knowledge with viewers, albeit with a shift in focus towards postgraduate level study. Following their trajectories beyond the Oxbridge years would enable future research to explore how StudyTubers are breaking down barriers to prestigious careers like law and accountancy, which remain connected to issues of professional exclusivity (Ashley et al. 2015). Further investigation into the influence of StudyTube on facilitating participation at higher degree level, which features a similar demographic imbalance (Wakeling and Laurison 2017; Mateos-González and Wakeling 2022), is also recommended.

Finally, student vloggers attend a wide range of universities, both in the UK and abroad, and the content they produce should be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about this particular YouTube niche. It presents considerable opportunity for further work exploring the positive influence of StudyTube from different countries and contexts, but also its negative ramifications. Concerns have recently been raised over whether StudyTube promotes toxic productivity through an unhealthy pursuit of perfectionism by normalising overwork and portraying a lifestyle that is unattainable, unsustainable and, more importantly, leads to burnout. Pressure to be constantly productive, not just in terms of academic output but also in cultivating one’s personal brand – many vloggers also juggle their studies and YouTube presence with running a business – is a feature of modern-day hustle culture that values ‘striving’ and ‘grinding’ over leisure activities. This is an emerging area of research that dovetails more broadly with issues of student mental health, and likewise warrants future research that would further develop the methodological novelty of this paper.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Professor Susan Robertson, Head of Faculty at the University of Cambridge, for her advice on this article. The author is also grateful to the anonymous reviewers and their suggestions for improvement, which were extremely helpful for improving the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.