Race, Class, and Student Choice: Negotiating Competing Rationalities

The previous chapter established the white-BAME attainment gap as a longstanding trend in UK universities, one that intersects with, but is not reducible to, class and educational background. This chapter focuses on BAME student choice in higher education. Though one of the more well-trodden paths in attainment gap research, previous studies have been sometimes guilty of taking a deficit approach which undervalues the personal narratives and motivations which may guide and constrain BAME student action. This chapter uses survey and interview data to explore students’ core decision-making: why study at university, which university, and which degree programme. This reveals the cultural and social capital at students’ disposal, foregrounding higher education as a key instrument for social mobility. Qualitative accounts importantly highlight differences between first- and second-generation immigrant narratives, which in turn shape students’ motivations for, and adaptation to, university study.