TY - JOUR
T1 - Learning the rules of the ‘student game’: Transforming the ‘student habitus’ through [im]mobility
AU - Holton, Mark
PY - 2015/8/13
Y1 - 2015/8/13
N2 - In recent years, a growing body of literature has emerged concerning the mobilities of students, specifically relating to the interactions between local and non-local students, which can accentuate unequal access to education; social interactions and learner outcomes. Central to much of this literature is a sense that being mobile in institutional choice is the most
appropriate and expected approach to successful university life. Conversely, local students, disadvantaged by their age, history, external commitments and immobility, are thought to be unlikely to share the same ‘student experiences’ as their traditional counterparts, leading to
feelings of alienation within the student community. This paper will seek to problematise this
binary by examining the experiences of a group of local and non-local students studying at the University of Portsmouth using Bourdieu’s reading of habitus and capital. This is useful as it provides a more critical insight into how students’ [dis]advantaged learner identities are
[re]produced through their everyday sociability. Moreover, these findings extend previous
discussions of first year transitions by questioning the influence of accommodation upon the formation of identities and the initial experiences of ‘being’, or ‘becoming’ students. This paper also seeks to extend previous theoretical tendencies that privilege identity formation through mobility rather than stasis.
AB - In recent years, a growing body of literature has emerged concerning the mobilities of students, specifically relating to the interactions between local and non-local students, which can accentuate unequal access to education; social interactions and learner outcomes. Central to much of this literature is a sense that being mobile in institutional choice is the most
appropriate and expected approach to successful university life. Conversely, local students, disadvantaged by their age, history, external commitments and immobility, are thought to be unlikely to share the same ‘student experiences’ as their traditional counterparts, leading to
feelings of alienation within the student community. This paper will seek to problematise this
binary by examining the experiences of a group of local and non-local students studying at the University of Portsmouth using Bourdieu’s reading of habitus and capital. This is useful as it provides a more critical insight into how students’ [dis]advantaged learner identities are
[re]produced through their everyday sociability. Moreover, these findings extend previous
discussions of first year transitions by questioning the influence of accommodation upon the formation of identities and the initial experiences of ‘being’, or ‘becoming’ students. This paper also seeks to extend previous theoretical tendencies that privilege identity formation through mobility rather than stasis.
KW - University students
KW - Student mobility
KW - Cultural capital
KW - Habitus
KW - Student geographies
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/gees-research/article/1420/viewcontent/Holton_20__20Environment_20and_20Planning_20A.pdf
U2 - 10.1177/0308518X15599293
DO - 10.1177/0308518X15599293
M3 - Article
SN - 0308-518X
VL - 47
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Environment and Planning A
JF - Environment and Planning A
IS - 0
ER -