Beyond a Binary Model of Students' Educational Decision-Making

Bibliographic Data

ID2642733
AuthorsGayna Davey (University of Southhampton, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume17
Issue3
Pages218-228
Publication date2012-08-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Research Online (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-7804 • E-ISSN: 1360-7804
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5153/sro.2585
OpenAlexW2083028579
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited15

This paper's focus is on young people's university decision-making processes. It offers two key arguments in response to the model of decision-making which predominates in the classed practices literature. Firstly, that the dominant decision-making model obscures the extent of variation within the middle-class; and secondly, that commonly articulated notions of 'certainty and entitlement' need to be deconstructed to render them sociologically meaningful. I argue that the model developed by Stephen Ball, Diane Reay and colleagues had established itself as a key influence in the field, and indeed, it continues to provide a reference for those exploring student decision-making as a classed practice. In having drawn from Bourdieu's conceptual framework their account of educational practices takes us some distance beyond the labels and boxes of class analysis. My findings intersect and contrast with what has become a binary model of working-class disadvantage versus middle-class privilege. The narratives presented in this paper contribute to, but in many ways challenge what has become an influential and pervasive model of student choice

Certainty · Disadvantage · Epistemology · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Higher Education Research Studies · Law · Psychology · School Choice and Performance · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access