Abstract

In highly marketised higher education systems, massification has afforded greater access, particularly for first-in-generation students. Generally, this expansion has been fuelled by neoliberal ideologies that valorise the notion of choice and promise of social mobility. In this study, using interviews with 25 first-generation students, the issue of choice is critically examined in one of the earliest arenas of neoliberal experimentation: the Chilean higher education system. The study found that these first-in-generation students encountered complex and multi-levelled challenges in making higher education choices. Such choices were firmly anchored in differing levels of aspiration, and were strongly mediated by both family and school social capital. As a result, we propose an addition to traditional conceptions of choice: students (and their families) who act as strategic choosers. This outcome challenges the notion that first-in-generation students encounter unitary trajectories or equitable choices in encountering higher education.

摘要

在高度市场化的高等教育系统中，大众化提供了更多的机会，尤其是对第一代学生而言。一般来说，这种扩张是由新自由主义意识形态推动的，这些意识形态重视选择的概念和社会流动的承诺。在这项研究中，通过对 25 名第一代学生的采访，选择问题在新自由主义实验的最早领域之一：智利高等教育系统中得到了严格审查。研究发现，这些第一代学生在选择高等教育时遇到了复杂和多层次的挑战。这些选择牢牢地锚定在不同层次的愿望上，并受到家庭和学校社会资本的强烈调节。因此，我们提出了对传统选择概念的补充：充当战略选择者的学生（及其家人）。这一结果挑战了第一代学生在接受高等教育时遇到单一轨迹或公平选择的观念。