Harriet Bradley UWE

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• Harriet Bradley UWE UoB
• Richard WallerUWE
• Social Class, Resilience and Adapting to Student
  Life

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Overview of Paired Peers study

• Aim to compare experiences of students from
  different backgrounds at UoB and UWE
• Paired across universities and by subject and
  social class
• Following for 3 years from Sept 2010
• Investigating factors affecting success,
  including economic, cultural social capitals

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The participant sample

• Pairing structure pairs matched by class,
  campus, subject , e.g. 8 Law students 4 from
  each uni, 2 w/c and 2 m/c at each
• Target 80 participants but over-recruited to
  cover attrition
• Only from subjects taught at both universities
• Subjects biology, drama, econ accountancy,
  engineering, english, geography, history, law,
  politics, psychology, sociology
• Recruited from 1st week induction sessions
• Demographic details on all students collected

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Defining Class

• Awareness of complexity, change, hybridity
• Multi-factoral approach
• Parents jobs, parents ed. level, school type,
  post-code, bursary, self-definition
• Participants classified into 3 groups m/c,
  intermediate, w/c
• The 90 selected were those at the ends of the
  spectrum as most clearly w/c or m/c

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Typical students graduating...
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Theoretical Context

• Tendency of capital theorising to portray w/c
  experience in terms of lack or alterity to
  dominant m/c
• Eg
• Skeggs w/c dis-identification
• w/c lack of distinctive voice
• Bennett Savage omnivorous m/c, end of
  distinctive w/c culture
• Puttnam bonding rather than bridging capital

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Policy context

• W/c assumed to be less able to cope with
  university experience than m/c
• Remedial approach on study skills etc
• Eg budgeting
• It is easy for students with no family experience
  of university , who were not taught financial
  management at school to get into serious trouble
  . (Tessa Stone, Brightside Trust 2012)
• ,

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Restoring the balance

• M/c do bring more capitals into uni
• Are empowered to mobilise them more effectively
• HOWEVER there are positives that w/c students can
  bring from their own experience
• This presentation posits the idea of
  experiential capital

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Physical capital

• Atkinson Sayles developing notion of physical
  capital as w/c asset w/c kids developing
  hardness in the playground
• Many studies indicate how young w/c women work on
  their embodied sexuality to obtain work - in the
  glamour industry
• For Atkinson and Sayles, physical capital tends
  to be tied to specific (w/c) social locations
• However, experiential capital can be transposed
  into another field

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1. Motivations

• Experience of hardship can motivate w/c students
  to succeed
• They are more aware of the realities of life
• Middle-class people are more likely to follow a
  route from school to university because they need
  more education to achieve the goal of maintaining
  their class position . One implication of this
  model is that children from working class
  backgrounds have to be more ambitious than middle
  class children in order to achieve upward social
  mobility through higher education (Kidd 2012)

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Working class hopes of HE (1)

• Well none of my mum or dad have gone to
  university and through my life Ive sort of seen
  the impacts of that, like financially throughout
  my whole life my mums never had any money, and
  neither has my dad really. ...my whole life has
  just seen them struggling through debts and I
  just thought well I cant be bothered to handle
  that, Im going to work like hard and get a job
  hopefully that will earn me loads of money, which
  is why I want to be a barrister.
• (m UWE w/c)

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Necessity to Work

• My parents took out their own loans just to be
  able to give me like set-up costs to come here,
  like deposits for things, like internet, all
  these hidden costs, hundreds and hundreds of
  pounds, on top of their deficit between my
  university accommodation and my loan, which is
  about a grand. My loan doesnt even cover the
  accommodation, so I need the income to be able
  to live. (Zoe, UoB)

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Working class hopes of HE (2)

• I wanted to get a higher level of
  qualification as well as meet new people, do
  something, not just go straight out into work and
  stay in the same northern bubble that I was in,
  but to remove myself and like go to a completely
  different environment.
• (f UoB w/c )

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Coming up the hard way

• Our class was like kind of the bad class in the
  year ..we had like a higher number of people
  which were like really rowdy and stuff. So yeah
  like throughout the school I didnt really enjoy
  it that much until like Year 10. from like Year
  7 to 9 it was you stay in your forms and you do
  like maths, english and everything together, then
  when you get to Year 10 and 11 they put you into
  sets to do with like how well youve
  performed.... 3 people from my form got expelled
  and then like 2 got moved out. We had 3
  different form tutors because like in Year 7 the
  guy who was our form teacher was like no I cant
  have them for another year and then in Year 8 a
  new guy joined for a year and then he had us, but
  then he left (m UWE w/c)
• Everybody was..not bothered, they didnt care you
  know about their lives. You would see people on
  the streets just looking depressed . Some people
  would smoke weed and just get up to all sorts of
  bad things and.....you know, a lot of crime. But
  thank God for my faith that I didnt get involved
  in any of that (f UWE w/c)

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Learning from experience

• Prospects arent that greatif you dont have a
  degree, in retail, because a few of my friends at
  Sainsburys I know are trying to work their way
  one of my friends, hes been there five years and
  hes only just become a team leader, the next
  step, and yeah, its not worth the effort you
  put in I dont think. The rewards you get back
  from that career structure isnt brilliant.
  Whereas conversely, my old store manager, he had
  an economics degree, he was 29 and hes been
  promoted again now hes left, hes become
  personal assistant to the regional manager I
  think hes on really good money (m UoB w/c)

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2 Location

• Its such a statistically a good university, you
  know its a Russell Group university.. its
  traditionally seen by employers as a reputable
  and a very good university and that, with the
  added bonus of cost, obviously its a lot cheaper
  not to move away, I dont have to worry about
  accommodation fees (m UoB w/c)

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Class and Fit

• There are institutional differences
• w/c students fit in more easily at UWE
• No reports of the state/private divide
• Some m/c students feel misfits at UWE
• Their self-esteem seems shaken by being at an
  ex-poly
• Students are aware of the HEI pecking order
• It remains to be seen if choosing UoB pays off

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3 Self-reliance

• kind of pretending youre in the real world but
  youre not actually because youve still got your
  parents who are still going to support you. Next
  year will be different, I think because next year
  it will actually count, live in a house, it will
  feel more real-life-ish. But at the moment I
  think Im still very much in a bubble pretending
  Im in the real world (f UoB m/c)
• So its really self directed learning, its just
  self reliant, you know, they just treat us like
  adults, do everything by yourself - which is
  good, which is really good. It makes you stronger
  as well, it makes you know yourself and the type
  of person you are (f UWE w/c)

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Managing your money

• I think you can easily manage if youre careful .
  .. its all about learning how to get by on a
  certain amount of money. Actually, I think if
  youre in that middle bracket, where your parents
  earn, like theyve got a good job but then
  theyve also got quite a big mortgage or whatever
  and theyve got a lot of kids, they cant really
  give their children that much money to live on.
  So I think people are caught in this like middle
  trap where theyve got less money than I
  have...theyre struggling a lot more than I am.
  Because Im finding it fine. I dont live a life
  of luxury but its enough. f w/c UoB

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W/c prudence

• My friend would just be like, oh are you coming
  out tonight, and Id be like, no I dont have
  anything in my bank account, I cant. And hed be
  like what do you mean, its just going to be 20,
  come on. And I was like, no. I have maybe 2 in
  my entire account. And he, like, dont be
  ridiculous, just come out. And like they just
  dont understand... it just doesnt register that
  I could possibly not have any money in my account
  (Megan UoB)

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m/c imprudence

• I just havent been budgeting properly.. Im a
  bit tight for money right now.. I just havent
  been spending my money responsibly this term, I
  think its because I just dont say no to things.
  Like someones like, do you want to go out? Yeah.
  Ok, dont know how much money Ive got but yeah
  Ill go out, see what happens. Do you want to go
  for a meal? Yeah. But yeah its sort of taught
  me a lesson for next term. Next term, Im going
  to be so strict on myself. (Carly UoB)
• My accommodation is so much that its not even
  covered by my student loan, so when my loan comes
  in the next day its all gone plus a bit more..
  so then my parents put 200 a month into my
  account which should be enough for me to live on,
  but generally its not because I just go out a
  bit too many times, or buy too much food when
  Im out. And Ive just been gradually going down
  into my overdraft. (Grace UoB)

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Family back up?

• Its 320 a month each rent - that obviously
  doesnt cover utilities.. Ive got to be getting
  another job , because if I quit the supermarket
  then I dont have any income coming in, then the
  student loan and grant is going to dry up pretty
  fast. I mean weve costed it all and budgeted it
  .. but then you cant plan for emergencies, but
  if everything stays as it is, it should be OK.
  ..if I go into dire straits my dad might be able
  to help me. I know my mum wont be able to, she
  wouldnt even be guarantor on my rent because
  she struggles to pay her rent , let alone. Im
  not entirely sure my dad could afford it but I
  put him as my guarantor because his circumstances
  are slightly financially better than my mums.
  (Gary UoB)

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The streetwise shopper

• Im really stingy with my spending and a
  complete bargain hunter..Ill go straight to the
  bargain aisle and the reduced section because I
  get some amazing bargains. Ive got like a
  special time which I go.. Yeah, Ill go to the
  Tesco Express at about 7 o clock when theyve
  reduced everything and I can get a loaf for 4p.
  And I got like some finest ham slices for
  about 6p.. I do tend to buy bulk stuff too. Yeah
  I go to Poundsaver and stuff, Im really good
  with my money.... Fruitwise I only tend to have
  like apples and bananas and oranges because
  they're cheap and so I'll get the basic ones. ..
  What they do is in Sainsburys , sometimes they
  have like too many like of the Gala ones or the
  Braeburns, what they'll do is they'll just stick
  on a basics sticker and so it will be exactly the
  same but you're literally paying like a fraction
  of the price... You can get 10 apples for like 1
  and they'll be like the really nice Gala ones. (f
  w/c UoB )

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4 Resilience

• W/c students are more familiar with hard knocks
  and thus can adjust to failures and restrict
  horizons
• M/c students feel entitled to succeed and so have
  further to fall some may find it hard to
  readjust
• Two stories to conclude show this

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Annas story Economics/Politics, UoB

• Parents divorced
• Father electrician, mother currently waitress,
  formerly accounts
• Went to poor-performing state school
• 2 As, 2 As
• All the way to GCSEs I didnt really work that
  much, like when I was 15 or 16 I started going
  out and getting drunk and stuff.....I know that
  sounds really silly but I didnt work that much
  and I still found it quite easy to do well. And
  then it got to A levels and then I kind of felt
  like oh I actually do need to work now.

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Experiential capital?

• I feel quite a lot older than everybody else
  here. Like sometimes you see people, you meet
  people that have their parents like.....you know,
  theyve never cooked a meal for themselves...its
  a bit like sixth form
• I do feel like Im glad that I went to a state
  school coming here because here theres so many
  people from private schools. And I meet people
  from Eton and all of these like....like schools
  that youve only heard of on television or
  something....I hear about what theyve done and
  like how much theyre given at school, and its
  great that theyre given that opportunity but
  its almost like they didnt have to work for it.
  The people who do succeed at state schools they
  have kind of an extra bit of...I think theyve
  worked a bit harder to get where they are

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Making capital?

• Bristol the best university she applied to.
  Wanted to understand economics in order to get a
  good job to help the disadvantaged
• But has found Economics hard, lowered
  expectations from 1st to 2.1
• Its the same tutor for both my Maths - he
  wasnt very helpful.and it was all men in my
  tutorial except for me, I was the only girl, and
  it was always really intimidating and I didnt
  enjoy going to those tutorials - well I still
  dont, I dont like going.
• Devastated as failed to get into Teach First
• Readjusting her expectations to do a PGCE
  bouncing back

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Emmas story English, UWE

• Rich , privileged , friends have tennis courts
  and swimming pool
• Went to high-performing grammar school two As
  and a B (seen as sad)
• Parents in business management
• If there was a ball we could go and pay 40 for
  a ticket, a lot of my friends here will say,
  actually I cant go to the cinema this week
  because Ive spent the 20 for the week that Ive
  got

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Culture Shock

• We walked into the kitchen and the two other
  girls were sat in the kitchen, theyd got there
  the day before. And they were rolling up
  cigarettes and....complete cliché....which made
  me look really sort of ridiculous and
  stereotypical was, I turned to my mum as we
  walked out and went mum, are they doing drugs.
  Showed my absolute naivety of everything, Id
  never been exposed to anything like that. My mum
  went no, no, theyre rolling up cigarettes I
  was like oh.
• I cook stuff, so Ive always known how but Ive
  never really had to put that into practice and do
  it for myself. Cooking for one is difficult - I
  found that out - cooking for one person is a bit
  of a challenge.

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Retreat home

• Emma nearly dropped out in Year 2 and now
  commutes to her studies from her family home
  some 75 miles away
• I was in Bristol and sort of surrounded by
  things that were quite frightening, and you live
  with people youve never met people dont do
  washing up, people want you to take the bin out,
  youve got to do this, youve got to do that,
  youve got to clean out your shower and stuff
  and.theres loads of people make a noise like
  late at night and theyre all running around..
  the more all that sort of took over me, the more
  I realised how much nicer it is just to go home
  and sleep in your nice little bed.
•  

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Conclusions

• W/C and M/C young people have different hopes
  for, or expectations of, HE
• M/C students have more capitals to help them into
  university and to settle in
• However, W/C students struggles to get there and
  survive once there build resilience useful in
  helping them succeed
• Such assets could be seen as experiential
  capital promoting streetwise capability to
  adapt and profit in new situations

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For further info

• Contact us
• harriet.bradley_at_bristol.ac.uk richard.waller_at_uwe.
  ac.uk
• Or, visit our website
• www.bristol.ac.uk/pairedpeers