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Access and Participation in Irish Higher Education pp 139–158Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Working Class Access to Higher Education: Structures, Experiences and Categories

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Abstract

Research on widening participation in Ireland and access policy has repeatedly highlighted the existence of enduring class inequalities in HE. In fact, it has been a vital and defining concern of the literature on access. This chapter offers a summary and critical review of the available research on working class students’ access to HE and outlines the key findings made from the late 1970s till today. One can point to a number of very well-developed lines of inquiry in the research, most notably the work on participation rates, but there are also major lacunae in this body of work. In mapping the contours of the field, a case will be made that what we know and can say about working class access to HE has clear empirical, methodological and theoretical limits.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In 2012 according to Byrne et al. (2013), 7.4 per cent, or 3,302 students, entered HE, Level 7 and 8. The number of eligible complete applications via the scheme was 2,930 applications for Level 8 programmes. Of these, 88.5 per cent (n = 2,593) received an offer and 62 per cent accepted an offer (1,607). In 2010, 87 per cent of the Level 8 ‘acceptances’ entered into HE. It is useful to note that all new entrants for 2012 totaled 40,865 but only 24,273 entered DARE participating HEIs. Therefore, it is important to adjust any data accordingly to avoid erroneous conclusions.

  2. 2.

    The phrase is borrowed from John Bissett’s (2000) research on class and schooling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland

    Fergal Finnegan

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  1. Fergal Finnegan
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Finnegan, F. (2017). Working Class Access to Higher Education: Structures, Experiences and Categories. In: Access and Participation in Irish Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56974-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56974-5_6

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