The Library
Gender, class and decision-making : a study within an independent school
Tools
Marson-Smith, Helen Ruth (2008) Gender, class and decision-making : a study within an independent school. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
Text
WRAP_THESIS_Marson-Smith_2008.pdf - Submitted Version Download (12Mb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2248428~S1
Abstract
There is a lack of research on the middle class in general, and
especially on those who attend independent schools. This is noticeably
profound in the field of educational decision-making at the ages of sixteen
and eighteen. Whilst recent studies have attempted to address such issues,
the focus has tended to fall on a very limited number of students attending
highly selective schools, which are often based in London: and are heavily
reliant on parental accounts of their offspring's decision-making.
In this study, I seek to address these identified gaps, in presenting a
study of student decision-making within a non-academically-selective
independent school for girls, given the pseudonym 'Midham School', which
is located in a town in the Midlands of England. The study draws on
observational data from Careers lessons and institutional school events such
as Open Days, and students' own responses given in a questionnaire and in
semi-structured small-group interviews, as well as interviews with key staff
members, collected over the course of one academic year. Resulting from
these, a picture will be built up of the dominant discourses relating to
educational decision-making within the school and home.
Theoretically, the study addresses aspects of both structure and
agency. Although there is a focus on the way in which individual young
women draw on differing discourses in order to inform their agentic
decision-making, these decisions are seen to be framed by structural factors
such as social class, gender and academic ability. These factors are shown
to have a defining effect on how the young women constructed themselves (and were constructed) as gendered and classed individuals through the
decisions that they (and their families) made regarding their education,
training and future careers.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology L Education > LC Special aspects of education |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Private schools -- England -- Case studies, Vocational guidance -- Social aspects -- Case studies, Women -- Vocational guidance -- Case studies, Decision making -- Sex differences -- Research, Decision making -- Social aspects -- Research | ||||
Official Date: | August 2008 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Sociology | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Hughes, Christina, 1952-; Parker, Andrew | ||||
Sponsors: | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (PTA-030-2004-00807) | ||||
Extent: | 353 leaves. | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year