Abstract
In the final chapter, we summarize the findings of the study and locate these in the wider policy context. The book shows that working-class students are not able to mobilize and exploit different forms of capital in the same ways as their highly resourced middle-class counterparts, and the book has shown how those processes work. Nevertheless, we argue that participation in HE provides working-class as well as middle-class students access to a wealth of opportunities, though these may be realized in the longer term rather than immediate futures. In addition, while HE has the potential to be game changing for working-class students, they may need greater resilience and resourcefulness to make HE work for them. There is an imperative for policymakers at national and institutional levels to recognize this and ensure that mechanisms are in place that enable rather than block the potential of working-class students.
The conclusions address key policy implications that need to be addressed to create structures and opportunities that support all students who form part of ‘the degree generation’, and do not implicitly maintain advantage for the middle classes.
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Bathmaker, AM., Abrahams, J., Waller, R., Ingram, N., Hoare, A., Bradley, H. (2016). Conclusions. In: Higher Education, Social Class and Social Mobility. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53481-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53481-1_8
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