There is considerable knowledge about why school-leavers from socio-
economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not participate in higher education,
however, there is less knowledge about why and how the minority of such young
adults do apply and participate in higher education. From a policy and practice
perspective, to increase participation in higher education, this knowledge is
important. In Ireland, research from an interpretative socio-cultural perspective is
particularly valuable, given the traditional dominance of research and policy based
on the concepts of socio-economic group and barriers to participation, and a limited
tradition of interpretative research.
This study, using a combined life history and case-study methodology, provides a
socio-cultural understanding of the broad range of enabling factors supporting
application to and participation in higher education through in-depth interviews
with a group of twenty young adults from similar socio-economically disadvantaged
backgrounds in an inner city area, interviews with people they identified as
influential in their education decisions and interviews with education and
community personnel from the area.
The study shows that there were common elements in all of the young peoples'
lives which enabled them to avail of increased education opportunities in the area
and be in a position to consider applying to higher education. There was also
evidence of diversity within socio-economic disadvantage in the form of three
groups with differing orientations towards higher education, experiences of
education, sense of identity and desires for their lives. Networks with different
types of social capital and providing different levels of cultural capital specific to
accessing higher education were key to understanding the differences between the
three groups and understanding who did and did not participate in higher education.
The study draws on and extends Bourdieu's work on the relationship between field,
capital and habitus and Woolcock's work on social capital to provide an
understanding of the factors affecting application to and participation in higher
education for young adults from SED backgrounds.