Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Social Identification, Widening Participation and Higher Education: Experiencing Similarity and Difference in an English Red Brick University

Clark, Tom; Hord�sy, Rita

Social Identification, Widening Participation and Higher Education: Experiencing Similarity and Difference in an English Red Brick University Thumbnail


Authors

Tom Clark

Profile image of RITA HORDOSY

Dr RITA HORDOSY RITA.HORDOSY@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Assistant Professor in Education



Abstract

© The Author(s) 2018. In 2012, the UK government introduced the National Scholarship Programme – a scheme that aimed to ensure that young people from families with low household incomes would not be discouraged from entry into higher education by increases in tuition fees. Drawing on longitudinal evidence in the form of 80 semi-structured interviews conducted in an English Red Brick University over a 3-year period, this article uses Jenkins’ work on social identification to examine the processes by which these post-2012 undergraduates used and experienced the financial support made available to them as part of the Programme. The article explores how the initially categorical label associated with being a student in receipt of financial assistance was variously understood and experienced as they moved through their degree. Not only did the additional finance allow students to avoid excessive part-time work, recipients also felt increasingly valued by the institution when they began to recognise how their financial circumstances differed from their peers, and that the university had made this provision for them. It remains to be seen whether these, more intangible, benefits of non-repayable financial support will transfer to the system of ‘enhanced’ loans that have subsequently replaced maintenance grants and the National Scholarship Programme.

Citation

Clark, T., & Hordósy, R. (2019). Social Identification, Widening Participation and Higher Education: Experiencing Similarity and Difference in an English Red Brick University. Sociological Research Online, 24(3), 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418811971

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 10, 2018
Online Publication Date Nov 28, 2018
Publication Date 2019-09
Deposit Date Sep 27, 2019
Publicly Available Date Oct 1, 2019
Journal Sociological Research Online
Electronic ISSN 1360-7804
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 24
Issue 3
Pages 353-369
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418811971
Keywords Sociology and Political Science
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2681568
Publisher URL https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1360780418811971
Contract Date Oct 1, 2019

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations