SRHE Workshop 19 th June 2018 Pierre Bourdieus

SRHE Workshop 19 th June 2018 Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction and its implications for educational research Dr Richard Waller (UWE, Bristol) & Dr Ciaran Burke (University of Derby) www. pairedpeers 2. org. uk

Format of the session 13. 15 – 14. 15 Introduction: Bourdieu's basic concepts habitus and capital Dr Richard Waller (UWE, Bristol) 14. 15 -15. 15 Bourdieu’s thinking tools: Beyond the basics and beyond Bourdieu Dr Ciaran Burke (University of Derby) 15. 15 – 15. 45 Plenary: Making Use of Bourdieu

Overview of RW’s input Background context Paired Peers project Working definition of ‘capital’ Capitals and social class Types of capitals employed in educational research Working definition of ‘habitus’ ‘Knowing (and playing) the game’ References

Bourdieu: Point of departure Bourdieu’s theoretical project can be seen as a reaction to: ◦ Popularity of Phenomenology ◦ Popularity of Structuralism It can be seen as working along the same lines of Late Modernity in that he wanted to have a middle ground between structure and agency

Bourdieu: Theory or practice From an ontological position Bourdieu was a “structural constructivist” Bourdieu’s theoretical project was concerned with bridging: ◦ Structure ◦ Agency Bourdieu was weary of: ◦ Spontaneous sociology To address this he advocated the use of theoretical tools: ◦ Habitus ◦ Capital ◦ Field These were often expressed as: ◦ [(habitus) (capital) + field = practice] (1984: 101)

Background context Bourdieu (1987), in his conceptualisation of social class argues that individuals are positioned in social space relative to others. This is largely based on the amount and type of symbolically recognised ‘capital’ (in its different forms) to which they have access.

The Paired Peers project The project aims were to discover: How the experiences of students at the two universities of Bristol (one ‘modern’ post-1992 (UWE), one ‘elite’ Russell Group (Uo. B)) were differentiated by class What kind of capitals students brought into university with them (economic, social and cultural) and what capitals they acquired during their university years Through this to explore in what ways university might promote or hinder social mobility Examples in RW’s presentation from the project

Working definition of ‘capital’ Speak with one or two people sitting near you: What do you understand ‘capital’ to mean for Bourdieu? What types of capital does he refer to?

What is ‘capital’? A resource upon which an individual can draw for personal benefit Bourdieu’s work identifies three key forms of capital: economic, cultural and social (Bourdieu 1997). The following slides are largely adapted from Bathmaker et al. (2016), our book from phase one of the Paired Peers project

Economic capital Economic capital involves financial resources and may be institutionalized, in the form of property rights for example. In essence, it is what you own, or earn It can be used to buy other forms of capital

Social capital consists of someone’s networks or connections, which can be institutionalized as a ‘title of nobility’ That is, it’s who you know

Middle-class advantage: social capital and networks I’m sure my networking helped as well, I’m absolutely convinced. . . I have one family member in an investment bank in London who is a distant, distant relative who my dad put me in contact with and said “oh yeah do you know such and such is in…” So I met with him in London, which was a useful contact…As regards other contacts…. (I). . . worked for my mum and dad’s accountant. . . spent a few days with him, whack(ed) it on the CV and they think “oh look he’s done some accounting” – tick box. (Nathan, M/C, Uo. B, Law) 1 2

Cultural capital (1) Cultural capital occurs in three forms: 1. Institutionalized, e. g. educational qualifications; 2. Objectified, in the material possession of cultural goods such as books; 3. Embodied, in the form of habitus and longlasting ‘dispositions of the mind and body’

Cultural capital (2) Cultural capital takes numerous forms, but they are valued differentially in different social fields (e. g. contrast between school classrooms and school playgrounds) Some forms of cultural capital, e. g. academic capabilities, might not be recognised as capital, rather being perceived as legitimate competence, thus functioning as what Bourdieu refers to as ‘symbolic capital’ (1997: 49). (e. g. see Ingram and Allen on ‘social magic’) An important characteristic of cultural capital is its hereditability. He argues that while cultural capital makes a substantial contribution to the inter-generational reproduction of class positions, ‘the social conditions of its transmission and acquisition are more disguised than those of economic capital’ (Bourdieu 1997: 49).

Capitals and social class The BBC’s Great British Class Survey of 2011 received over 160 k responses, demonstrating the strength of public interest in social class in the C 21 st, and informing current debates about the construction of social class, and the role of social and cultural processes in generating class divisions. The web-based survey, developed by sociologists Mike Savage, Fiona Devine and colleagues, sought to develop a new model of contemporary social class (Savage et al. 2013; 2015), combining measures of economic, cultural and social capitals to map contemporary class divisions. This work formed part of a so called ‘cultural turn’ in social class research, to which contributions of Bourdieu are key. Various efforts have been made to evaluate cultural capital (e. g. see Harrison & Waller, 2010)

‘Buying capitals’ and social class Cultural and social capitals cannot be entirely reduced to economic capital, but for Bourdieu their power comes from how they’re intrinsically tied to economic capital, though this connection is often disguised In contrast to Marx for e. g. , class for Bourdieu is not about straightforward economic capital, but involves cultural and social capitals that position individuals in social space advantageously or disadvantageously in relation to others

Types of capitals employed in educational research Cultural capital Social capital Economic capital Symbolic capital Emotional capital Experiential capital Other more esoteric aspects too, e. g. Erotic capital (Hakim)

Working definition of ‘habitus’ Speak with one or two people sitting near you: What do you understand ‘habitus’ to mean for Bourdieu? Give some examples of how our habitus influences our lives

Working definition of ‘habitus’ Bourdieu also uses the concept of habitus, which he defines as: A system of dispositions, that is of permanent manners of being, seeing, acting, thinking or a system of long lasting (rather than permanent) schemes or schemata or structures of perception, conception and action. (Bourdieu 2002: 27)

Habitus (1) Habitus is ‘the learned set of preferences or dispositions by which a person orients to the social world’ (Edgerton and Roberts 2014: 195). It is about tastes, practices and dispositions. It is about language and how we carry ourselves. Bourdieu (1990: 70) writes of habitus that it involves: ‘ways of standing, speaking, walking and thereby feeling and thinking’.

Educated habitus Nash (2002) talks of an ‘educated habitus’, which involves characteristics such as a positive orientation to schooling, high aspirations, a positive academic self-concept, and a desire to identify and be identified as educated. This educated habitus can also be class-specific, based on a classed view of education and its value (informing dispositions towards it) and could be considered the manifestation of cultural capital.

Institutional habitus Applied to educational and other social contexts Universities having a ‘feel’, a distinct character in terms of social class, ethnicity etc. It interacts with individual habitus – how well does someone ‘fit’ or ‘feel at home’? Bourdieu talks for e. g. of ‘fish in (or out) of water’ See Reay et al. (2005, 2009, 2010) Bourdieusian critics include Will Atkinson

‘Knowing (and playing) the game’ (1) “A space in which a game takes place, a field of objective relations between individuals or institutions who are competing for the same stake. ” ‘Knowing the game’ helps some students maintain social advantage, e. g. extra-curricular activities (ECAs) and internships as instances of how different forms of capital may be mobilised and generated Distinguish between ‘active’ and ‘internalised’ behaviours and strategies ‘Knowing’ and ‘playing the game’ generally further advantage those with the greatest accumulated capital. (see Bathmaker et al. , 2013)

‘Knowing (and playing) the game’ (2) Students mobilise capitals in both ‘active’ and ‘internalised’ ways to position themselves advantageously for a future career Avoid a dichotomy between ‘agentic’ and ‘determined’ players, and recognise that people are ‘neither fully determined nor fully willed’ (Mc. Nay 1999, 100). Some students have greater self-awareness about acquiring and mobilising their resources than others. However, regardless of the degree of perceived agency or internalised action, students may still operate within the game to secure advantage. Many middle-class students have an internalised understanding of the game and play it well without actively considering the mechanisms of their own operations while others operate in a more intentional way.

The Rules of the Game ‘Get exposed to the companies and the industries that you might want to work for as early as possible. Research the opportunities available, (which I did), and summer internships (which I did and got the job off the back off). Join societies and clubs and try and take up leadership positions in those clubs that are relevant to the potential career that you want – if the society doesn’t exist, create it. (…) Just try and do everything to build up your CV, just add little bits of experience, add little bits of training, competitions if you can, and make yourself look busy’. (Nathan, M/C, Uo. B, Law)

Working-class men: Getting to grips with the game “Well that’s another thing that I was meant to do is apply for grad jobs. I’ve only applied for two, and got turned down for one, still waiting on the other one, but yeah I haven’t really put as much effort into finding a graduate scheme as I should have. But that’s what I’m hoping to do. I’m applying to go anywhere over the country, usually in the finance departments for large businesses. It looks like at the minute I’ll probably have to move back to home for a while. ” (Leo, W/C, UWE, Econ)

References (1) Bathmaker, A-M. , Ingram, N. & Waller, R. (2013) ‘Higher education, social class and the mobilisation of capitals: recognising and playing the game’. British Journal of Sociology of Education 34 (5/6) pp. 723 -743 Bathmaker, A-M. , Ingram, N. , Abrahams, J. , Hoare, T. , Waller, R. & Bradley, H. (2016) Higher education, social class and social mobility: the degree generation. Palgrave Mac. Millan Bourdieu, P. (1987) What makes a social class? On theoretical and practical existence of groups, Berkley Journal of Sociology; a critical review, 32: 1 -17. Bourdieu, P. (1997) The Forms of Capital in A. H. Halsey, H. Lauder, P. Brown, and A. Stuart Wells (eds) Education: Culture, Economy and Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 46 -58. Bourdieu, P. (2002) ‘Habitus’, in J. Hillier & E. Rooksby, Habitus: A sense of place, Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 27 -34. Edgerton, J. and Roberts, L. (2014) Cultural capital or habitus? Bourdieu and beyond in the explanation of enduring educational inequality, Theory and Research in Education, 12, 2: 193220. Harrison, N. & Waller, R. (2010) ‘We blame the parents!’ A response to “Cultural capital as an explanation of variation in participation in higher education” by Noble, J. & Davies P. in British Journal of Sociology of Education 30, (5) British Journal of Sociology of Education 31 (4), pp. 471 -482

References (2) Lehmann, W. (2007) ‘‘I just feel like I don’t fit in’: The role of habitus in university drop-out decisions’. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 37: 89– 110 Mc. Nay, L. 1999. ‘Gender, Habitus and the Field: Pierre Bourdieu and the Limits of Reflexivity. ” Theory, Culture and Society 16 (1): 95– 117. Nash, R. (2002) The educated habitus, progress at school and real knowledge, Interchange, 33, 1: 27 -48. Reay, D. , G. Crozier & Clayton, J. (2009) Strangers in Paradise? Working-class students in elite universities Sociology 43: 1103– 21. Reay, D. , Crozier, G. & Clayton, J. (2010) ‘Fitting in’ or ‘standing out’: Working class students in UK higher education. British Educational Research Journal 36: 107– 24. Reay, D. , M. David, and S. Ball (2005) Degrees of choice: Class, race, gender and higher education. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Savage, M. , Devine, F. , Cunningham, N. , Taylor, M. , Li, Y. Hjellbrekke, J. , Le Roux, B. , Friedman, S. and Miles, A. (2013) A New Model of Social Class? Findings from the BBC’s Great British Class Survey Experiment, Sociology, 47, 2: 219 -250. Savage, M. , Cunningham, N. , Devine, F. , Friedman, S. , Laurison, D. , Mc. Kenzie, L. , Miles, A. , Snee, H. and Wakeling, P. (2015) Social Class in the 21 st Century, London: Penguin.

Contact details: richard. waller@uwe. ac. uk

See our 2016 book from Palgrave

Sample Used multi-factoral approach to define class from questionnaire data gathered during 1 st year induction meetings (n=2, 130). We considered: 1. Parental occupations 2. Education level of parents 3. Home postcode 4. Type of school attended 5. Percentage of friends going to university 6. Receipt of bursary 7. Self-defined class Students classified as W/C, M/C or intermediate/unclear

Methodological approach Paired Peers 1: Followed students at UWE and Uo. B from ‘freshers to finals’ during undergraduate study Students selected from 11 subjects taught at both universities: Biology; Drama; Econ/Acc/Fin; Engineering; English; Geography; History; Law; Politics; Psychology and Sociology Students ‘matched’ by social class and, where possible, gender

Paired Peers I and 2 From 2, 130 questionnaires we selected a cohort of 88 students from UWE & Uo. B who we followed through UG degrees and into labour market Recruited during induction in 2010, most still with us now PP 1 (2010 -2013) Interviews (x 2 year), diaries, focus groups, time logs, maps etc. (forthcoming book). 71 of the 88 students still with us at end PP 2 (2014 -2017) Three interviews completed c 56 graduates, most in 4 th year after graduation; more interviews to follow later in year 3 of project Virtually all now in some form of employment or study