Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways in which a group of Higher Education students understood social class and its relevance in society. The findings are a result of a small-scale study carried out with 3rd year university students. The data was collected through the use of a Online Learning Environment forum in which students were invited to participate as part of one of their courses. Data analysis suggested that, despite an extent of variation in students’ responses, the majority perceived social class as a very complex, and often confusing, concept that extended beyond definitions related to income and/or occupation. Instead, class was often understood in relation to cultural, symbolic and social elements. Furthermore, most students maintained that class is a redundant category with no influence on people’s lives. In particular, they put forward, directly or indirectly, the view that we live in a meritocratic society and emphasized individual agency as against structure. A much smaller group of students acknowledged social class as an influential sociological category, which informed individuals’ life opportunities and trajectories. This paper discusses these findings with reference to debates about the nature of social class identities (see Giddens (1990), Savage et al. (2001), Devine (1992) etc.).