Staying local: how mature, working-class students on a satellite campus leverage community cultural wealth

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the experiences of mature students at a satellite campus of an English higher education institution. Twenty students over age 25 who fit various widening participation criteria were interviewed at four points during their first two years of bachelor’s level study at a higher education (HE) centre in an area underserved by HE. Three aspects (familial, aspirational and social capital) of Yosso’s model of community cultural wealth emerged as assets supporting students’ success. Staying in their home communities allowed them to benefit from family and community networks, and their aspirations for their children fuelled their motivation. The study extends critical race theory to mature mostly white working-class students in English HE, contributing to policy debates about the role of satellite centres in supporting widening participation agendas. HEIs need to consider the capitals that mature students bring with them to their studies and how those support persistence.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural capital
• community cultural wealth
• transition to higher education
• satellite campus

Acknowledgements

We thank the participants and two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) is used in UK statistics to measure social class based on occupation. NS-SEC group refer to the eight classification groups which categorise those in higher managerial positions to those in lower socio-economic classes depending on their work. Those whose occupation is in groups 4–8 are in the lowest socio-economic groups classified by occupation.

2 Low Participation Neighbourhood (LPN) uses a classification by areas of the country that have the lowest young participation in HE (most disadvantaged) Quintiles 1and2. The areas with the highest participation in HE (most advantaged) are in quintile 5.