Higher education, social class and social mobility. The degree generation

This book explores higher education, social class and social mobility from the point of view of those most intimately involved, the undergraduate students. It is based on a project which followed a cohort of students at Bristol's two universities in the UK for three years, from when they started their undergraduate study, to the point when most of them finished their Bachelor degree, and were about to enter the labour market or continue to further study. The students were paired by university, by subject of study and by class background, so that the fortunes of middle-class and working-class students could be compared. The narrative data of students’ experience are set against the background of a hierarchical and stratified HE system, in order to consider the potential and limitations of HE as a vehicle of social mobility.