Interpreting student early departure from higher education through the lens of cultural capital

Abstract

The UK higher education system is increasingly pre‐occupied by matters relating to student retention and progression to completion (Longden 2002c). There is an active debate on the possible causes with primary influences on the student experience which drives the student towards the decision to leave higher education. These influences are articulated through a political and empirical language but are poorly developed within a theoretical framework capable of providing an integrated understanding of the process. Pierre Bourdieu's theory using cultural capital and social reproduction provide a useful and important alternative conceptual framework to the interactionist model developed by Tinto (1993). Bourdieu's theory has had some application in the US (Berger 2000). This paper tentative explores the contribution that Bourdieu's theory has for understanding student retention within the context of UK higher education. It draws on transcripts of student experience of early departure from full time undergraduate study to evaluate this alternative ‘lens’ for interpreting retention.