Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France
This article examines student accounts of credentials, talent and academic success, against a backdrop of the enduring liberal ideal of an education-based meritocracy. The article also examines Bourdieu's account of academic qualifications as the dominant source of institutionalised cultural ca...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Routledge
2014
|
| _version_ | 1797055364235001856 |
|---|---|
| author | Brown, P Power, S Tholen, G Allouch, A |
| author_facet | Brown, P Power, S Tholen, G Allouch, A |
| author_sort | Brown, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article examines student accounts of credentials, talent and academic success, against a backdrop of the enduring liberal ideal of an education-based meritocracy. The article also examines Bourdieu's account of academic qualifications as the dominant source of institutionalised cultural capital, and concludes that it does not adequately account for comparative differences in the social structure of competition and ideological shifts in class (re)production in different national contexts. This analysis is based on an empirical investigation of elite students at Oxford University and Sciences Po in Paris. We investigated how they understand the competition for a livelihood and whether they see themselves as more 'talented' than students from non-elite universities. This investigation revealed important similarities and differences between British and French students that have significant sociological implications for the (re)production and legitimation of educational and labour market inequalities. © 2014 © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor and Francis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:09:39Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:16577869-2299-42cb-8296-5f52a3f4232f |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:09:39Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:16577869-2299-42cb-8296-5f52a3f4232f2022-03-26T10:30:45ZCredentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and FranceJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:16577869-2299-42cb-8296-5f52a3f4232fEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordRoutledge2014Brown, PPower, STholen, GAllouch, AThis article examines student accounts of credentials, talent and academic success, against a backdrop of the enduring liberal ideal of an education-based meritocracy. The article also examines Bourdieu's account of academic qualifications as the dominant source of institutionalised cultural capital, and concludes that it does not adequately account for comparative differences in the social structure of competition and ideological shifts in class (re)production in different national contexts. This analysis is based on an empirical investigation of elite students at Oxford University and Sciences Po in Paris. We investigated how they understand the competition for a livelihood and whether they see themselves as more 'talented' than students from non-elite universities. This investigation revealed important similarities and differences between British and French students that have significant sociological implications for the (re)production and legitimation of educational and labour market inequalities. © 2014 © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor and Francis. |
| spellingShingle | Brown, P Power, S Tholen, G Allouch, A Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title | Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title_full | Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title_fullStr | Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title_full_unstemmed | Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title_short | Credentials, talent and cultural capital: a comparative study of educational elites in England and France |
| title_sort | credentials talent and cultural capital a comparative study of educational elites in england and france |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brownp credentialstalentandculturalcapitalacomparativestudyofeducationalelitesinenglandandfrance AT powers credentialstalentandculturalcapitalacomparativestudyofeducationalelitesinenglandandfrance AT tholeng credentialstalentandculturalcapitalacomparativestudyofeducationalelitesinenglandandfrance AT alloucha credentialstalentandculturalcapitalacomparativestudyofeducationalelitesinenglandandfrance |