Sociology, Gender and Educational Aspirations: Girls and Their Ambitions

Description

Debate on the effects of class on educational attainment is well documented and typically centres on the reproductive nature of class whilst studies of the effect of class on educational aspirations also predict outcomes that see education reinforcing and reproducing a student's class background. Despite a number of government initiatives to help raise higher education participation to 50% by 2010, for the working class numbers have altered little. Using data from an ethnographic case study of a low-achieving girls school the author explores aspirations and argues that whilst class is very powerful in explaining educational attainment, understanding educational aspirations is somewhat more complex. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to question and challenge popular assumptions surrounding class-based theory in making sense of girls aspirations and to question the usefulness of the continued over reliance of such broad categorisations by both academics and policy makers.

Carol Fuller is Lecturer in the Institute of Education at the University of Reading, UK.

'...Carol Fuller combines a detailed, sensitive and often vivid account of the lives and aspirations of the young women she studied with an insightful perspective on contemporary sociological theory. The interplay between their own hopes and plans, their relationships with their families and the wider social and cultural situation they are in is handled with insight and understanding.' Paul Croll, Bulmershe Professor of Education, University of Reading, UK 'The girls truly come to life before us! Fuller successfully teases out the complex tangle of mechanisms - from the girls themselves to their families, teachers, and peers - that leads some girls to withdraw or challenge, and others to aspire to succeed. No doubt, Fuller's book is set to become just as influential as Paul Willis' Learning to Labour, revealing for the lasses what Willis revealed for the lads. I would recommend it to anyone, not just specialists!' Roberto Franzosi, Professor of Sociology, Emory University, USA 'This is a competently handled book which raises important issues for teachers, policy makers and researchers...I would certainly recommend it to postgraduate and research students, and to those interested in developing an overview of social class, gender and educational aspirations.' -- British Journal of Educational Studies