This event is part of the School of Education's Bristol Conversations in Education research seminar series. These seminars are free and open to the public.
Book Launch for Schooling Inequality: Aspirations, Opportunities and the Reproduction of Social Class, published by Policy Press.
Speakers: Dr. Jessica J Abrahams (University of Bristol) and Professor David James (Cardiff University)
This event will launch Dr Abrahams' new book: Schooling Inequality, including a brief presentation on the book and commentary/discussion from Professor David James.
Book abstract
Despite a mass expansion of the higher education sector in the UK since the 1960s, young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds remain less likely to enter university than their advantaged counterparts. Drawing on unique new research gathered from three contrasting secondary schools in England, including interviews with pupils and careers advisors, this book explores the aspirations, opportunities, and experiences of young people from different social-class backgrounds against a backdrop of continuing inequalities in education. By focusing both on the stories of young people and the schools themselves, the book sheds light on the institutional structures and practices that render young people more, or less, able to pursue their aspirations.This event also features a short film showcasing the findings and implications from Dr Abrahams and colleagues’ recent project Including the Excluded. Funded by the Brigstow Institute, the project aimed to co-produce knowledge on the educational and emotional experiences of pupils excluded from mainstream schools in Bristol in 2020 amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and economic-related social instability.
