McDonnell, Sorca
(2023)
'Do you mind me askin, but how did you get in here?’
A collaborative inquiry exploring class and education in Ireland, from the perspectives and
experiences of working class women who have attended higher education.
PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
Abstract
This research is a Collaborative/Co-operative Inquiry (CI) with a group of working class
women who have attended Higher Education (HE), in which we explore class and
education in Ireland. The challenges of inequality, within our stories, particularly in
educational structures, are at the heart of this research. It is also practitioner research
where I am exploring and critiquing systems in HE that continue to ‘other’ students and
my role as a lecturer within these systems.
The importance of voice and story in articulating classed experiences from an insider
perspective is important in challenging taken for granted, and individualistic, perspectives
of class and choice (Skeggs, 1997; Reay, 2017; Crew, 2020). Pierre Bourdieu’s key
concepts of class, are used to explore our experiences and our positions in the social
structures, including how they impact our trajectories.
Our research group worked collaboratively to explore our stories and to co-construct
knowledge based in our classed experiences. The process, underpinned by care and
empathy, highlights the expertise in our group on class, access and education. The impact
of inequality in wider society, particularly education, on our experiences and trajectories
was at the centre of our inquiry.
The research highlights the middle class framing of the educational system and how
having the right habitus, and cultural capital provides a distinct advantage, with working
class students feeling ‘other’ in the system. This impacts our lack of belonging in
education at all levels and how moving to HE can change class awareness. Feeling, and
being different from the middle class students was linked to deficit perspectives of class
which places blame on individuals for their lack of success in HE. Feeling caught
between worlds, started in HE and has continued into employment. The role of family,
and habitus also impacted our trajectories, when we went to HE and changed relationships
and positioning related to succeeding in HE.
This research contributes to the small body of research on the lived experiences of class
and education in Ireland. It highlights the complexity of classed experiences and
challenges narrow classifications and deficit models of class and affirms the inclusion of
voice and story in challenging taken for granted perspectives.
| Item Type: |
Thesis
(PhD)
|
| Keywords: |
collaborative inquiry; exploring; class; education; Ireland; working class women; higher education; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Adult and Community Education |
| Item ID: |
18843 |
| Depositing User: |
IR eTheses
|
| Date Deposited: |
10 Sep 2024 13:31 |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
Altmetric
Altmetric