CORRELACIÓN Y ANÁLISIS

As mentioned above in a Bourdieusian methodology, agency and structure are two concepts that are clearly linked. Stahl (2018b) commented that using habitus as a methodological tool allows individuals’ agency, as an active ingredient, in the process of

habitus formation or transformation to be taken into account rather than habitus being

developed passively by interactions with social structures. From the literature review important influences on social structure can be identified: influences of peers, family, teachers and others, influences of the school in terms of opportunities given and taken by individuals including the provision of career education, to develop dispositions in relation to how young people think and act and how these dispositions change in relation to interaction with family, teachers and the school. These influences will be discussed in more detail in relation to how they are used in the data analysis process in Chapter Five, highlighting an important part in the data analysis process in moving from description to analysis. Patomäki and Wight (2000) suggested that agency and structure could not be separated ontologically, because they are intertwined, but can only be separated for

analytical purposes. They give three reasons for this. First individuals are linked to the social situations they find themselves in everyday life: individuals are woven with the social fabric. Patomäki and Wight (2000) were quick to highlight that, even though individuals are linked to the social world they find themselves in, individuals do not lose their sense of identity or personality, for the social world develops their sense of identity and personality.

Second is the recognition that the social world is dynamic and forever changing in that social activity is situated activity; that is, activity in which the outcome is depended on the communication, interaction and behaviour of the group as a whole, as opposed to individuals (Patomäki and Wight, 2000). However, in stating this Patomäki and Wight (2000) say that it should not be inferred that an individual’s sense of identity, personality and perception of the social world should be rejected, as these are influenced by social interaction. Third is to take account of the context of social activity. This is to say, according to Patomäki and Wight (2000), that individuals and situated activity take place in a wider and deeper relational context, and that deeper context could be, for example, class relations or power relations.

Patomäki and Wight (2000) go further and suggested that this leads to the social reproduction or transformation based on relations from the past. This links with Bourdieu’s (1977) Theory of Reproduction, in that the habitus and dispositions an individual possesses have been developed, partially, from the interactions with their family environment and society. Patomäki and Wight (2000) stated that the structural contexts of social activity take account of the authority, power and influence of social activity. In order for agency and structure to remain in Bourdieu’s methodological tools, he described his method as constructivist structuralism, according to Stahl et al. (2018), where constructivist refers to the reproduction of human activity and structuralist to the relations of those involved, as highlighted at the beginning of this section. Archer (1996) proposed a three-dimensional model, which comprises social interaction: the cultural system, the

structural system and individuals themselves. However, it is important to note that

Archer’s model has a crucial link to this dissertation through Bourdieu’s Theory of

Reproduction, in particular his concept of habitus, when Archer employs the term culture

to mean the values, beliefs, ideas and norms of society; the dispositions associated with certain class strata of society. This can be linked back to the discussion of habitus and its associated dispositions of the way people think, act and behave detailed in this Chapter and in Chapter Three.

However, in reifying the role of education and the possibilities that education can bring, it is important to acknowledge there are some critiques and drawbacks associated with the role of education. One such example is the role of education in capitalist society which, according to Thomson (2008), drawing on the work of Louis Althusser, a prominent Marxist, is to produce, or reproduce, a dominant and obedient workforce. This can be related to Bowles and Gintis’s (1988) correspondence theory, where school prepares young people to be obedient of authority and to participate in the economic system; in other words education has an instrumental purpose. At present the influence of Scotland’s Developing the Young Workforce strategy is extremely skills based in that it is oriented towards providing young people with the necessary transferable skills needed for future employment (Scottish Government, 2014). This strategy links with the role of education in a capitalist way of thinking and with the larger neoliberal agenda, as highlighted by Hill (2006) and detailed in Chapters One and Two. Thomson (2008) further stated that schools, or educational establishments in general, promote a myth where everyone has an equal chance to succeed and rejects the idea of a meritocracy, again as detailed in Chapter Two. Moreover, Thomson (2008) suggested a direct relationship between a young person’s social background and how well they attain at school: a young person from a more affluent family will attain better qualifications at school. This again provides links with Bourdieu’s (1977) Theory of Reproduction, where the education establishment seeks to reproduce and legitimise the dominant class culture.

It is important to acknowledge limitations of encouraging as many people as possible to progress to Higher Education, as reported in the Guardian newspaper (Elliot, 2016), that an overproduction of university graduates is bad for the economy as graduate jobs are not available. Elliot (2016) reported that graduates are taking jobs in the police and banking, for example, which would normally have been where school leavers aimed to get employment. This could push those school leavers into less well paid short-term employment, for example in the gig economy, doing small jobs for companies such Uber and Deliveroo. Elliot (2016) further reported on comments by Peter Cheese (Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) that successive UK Governments (and indeed Scottish Governments) have pursued an agenda of encouraging ever increasing numbers of young people into Higher Education and that with the recent Brexit vote, governments need to take to take stock of Higher Education and skills to plan for the future of the country outside of the European Union. It is also important to bear in mind the discussion surrounding the growing number of people in the gig economy, the working poor who are in in-work poverty and the increase in automation in many sectors

that are limiting employment opportunities and limiting progression. This can be related to what Standing (2016), writing in the World Economic Forum, described as a new class system, where the precariat are becoming more prevalent in society; those people who have to accept unsecure or unstable employment, such as those in the gig economy. Standing (2016) stated that the precariat are those on zero-hours contracts, in voluntary part-time employment and short term contract, for example, and results in people employed in these areas having no occupational identity, where the number of hours people need to work is not reflected in their salary or recognised.

Moreover, Standing (2016) points out that as salaries have not risen with the increasing costs of living, this means that in countries such as the UK, USA, Germany and other OECD countries, opportunities for upward mobility have been falling while downward mobility has been increasing. The idea of social mobility was discussed by Goldthorpe (2016) who demonstrated that current trends indicated downward mobility is increasing. Furthermore, a Research Report (Nunn et al. 2007) commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions quoted research by Blanden et al. (2007) that demonstrated that social mobility in the UK has stalled or even declined recently. This could have potential implications for young people in that they may not be able to progress to a more advanced position than their parents. One key aspect of school and educators is to help young people as much as possible buck this trend and achieve their potential.

Furthermore, Sayer (1997) suggested that critiquing social phenomena is inherently difficult because of subjectivity; the debate over what embodies a problem, solution or explanation, for example. Moreover, Sayer (1997) pointed to the need to have alternatives and to take into account the cultural and political implications of providing individuals with the ability to better themselves. This has moral and ethical implications of its own in deciding who has the right to determine who is given the chance to be bettered, who is not and the rationale behind this thinking. Furthermore, with societies becoming more multicultural, diverse and interdependent, it is more important than ever that cultural aspects are taken into account.

4.5 Chapter Conclusion

In conclusion this Chapter began by highlighting different philosophical positions from positivism at one end of the continuum to constructivism at the opposite end of the continuum. Furthermore, strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches were discussed and an argument for basing this dissertation research on interpretivism was put

forward. Moreover, an extended discussion took place, based on some readings from the literature review and other literature, which considered how habitus and aspirations have been used methodologically by other researchers. This resulted in the following methodological approach being taken.

Three high-level themes will be considered. First are dispositions: how young people think, act and behave; this will include looking for patterns of repetition of practices and attitudes. Second the influence of the school in terms of looking for effects of the institutional habitus in relation to mapping aspirations and expectations to the choices and experiences individuals make or take that are offered by the school and the potential for these choices and experiences to bring about habitus transformation or change. Third the aspirational goals of individuals will be examined in relation to expected aspirations and intended aspirations this will consider individual’s aspirations in relation to Zipin et al.’s (2015) notions of doxic, habituated and emergent aspirations. These high-level themes, presented in Table 4.1 above will be linked to themes identified from the literature review, Chapter Three and also themes identified from the data itself to provide a thematic approach to data analysis in Chapter Five. Furthermore, a discussion around agency and structure took place, which demonstrated the inter-relatedness of these concepts in consideration to social inequality and class inequality being a structuring-structure that can define young people’s future aspirations resulting in them taking a doxic view of the future. The importance of developing agency will be highlighted in Chapter Six through the discussion of participants’ responses and related to literature.

Chapter Five

Method of Data Collection and Analysis

This Chapter outlines the methods used in this dissertation and provide context and background of the school and the research participants. Method is defined as the techniques that are applied to collect data on the object under investigation (King 1994; Roberts, 2014). Barriball and While (1994) reminded the researcher that every step of the research process can affect the results obtained and that it is important to reduce error as much as possible. The methods used in this dissertation are outlined together with a detailed discussion of how the research tools were developed and the method of data analysis is given. First, however, a discussion of ethics is presented in relation to reflexivity in social science, as the concept of reflexivity is important in Bourdieu’s research methods as highlighted in Chapter Three and Four.