The promotion of equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives has become routine within Anglophone universities in the Global North. However, critical race scholars have demonstrated that these well-intentioned policies are often formulated in ways that transact empty performatives, where discussions of racism are deemed too challenging. Moreover,…

This article aims to quantitatively analyze the roles of British and American university systems in educating their political elites, specifically their cabinet members, between 1922 and 2021. Employing quantitative indices, the study seeks to provide a comparative assessment of both countries' higher education systems in political elite…

This article presents findings from qualitative research on school exclusion. The study was conducted in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), part of alternative education provision, in England. Mixed methods used included ethnographic approaches, drama-based group work, focus group discussions and interviews. Research participants were teenage boys (age…

Internships have grown to become a crucial part of the graduate job market. Offering graduates an invaluable opportunity to gain hands-on experience, develop key skills, and build their networks, they can be formative experiences for those trying to kickstart their career. But our previous research has highlighted a persistent and pervasive…

This article looks at how institutional peer leadership roles in higher education reproduce social class inequalities. Through an ethnographic case study of Southern African Development Community (SADC) international students studying at Rhodes University in South Africa, I demonstrate how students from privileged class backgrounds possess the…

This paper is about social class and the teaching profession. While class has long been a core focus in the Sociology of Education, little attention has been paid to how it is conceived and enacted in the context of the professions, including teaching. While research in the area is increasing, we know relatively little about "the daily class…

This article performs a discourse analysis on the recent interest of the Israeli Ministry of Education in vocational education by examining governmental and organisational texts. This article addresses two key questions. What is the government's justification for its renewed interest in vocational education? What are its discursive practices to…

Inequality scholarship has long highlighted the role of education, including higher education, in both mobility processes and the reproduction of disadvantage. This article, drawing on a unique sample of nearly 22,000 undergraduate students in Israel, builds on and extends this body of work by analyzing the extent to which double majoring in…

This article examines the relevance of different institutional levels in higher education for the educational strategies of upper milieu students in a case study conducted in Germany. Based on our analysis of 95 qualitative interviews with Masters students from different social backgrounds, we show how upper milieu students take advantage of the…

In recent years, Innovative Schools in Dali have received increasing coverage in Chinese social media and have also attracted middle-class parents from cities, as viable bottom-up educational initiatives. This paper explores the rationales for Chinese middle-class parents' choice of Innovative Schools in Dali. Analysis of data from online…

Academic entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly a research field paralleling processes of capitalist commodification. We mobilise Baudrillard's concepts to probe a school's strategic communication methods symbolising class neoliberalism, which aspirational parents may experience as a desired habitus of 'distinction'. We suggest their…

Social class of origin is apparently an imperceptible attribute among doctorate holders seeking academic jobs. Yet, recent studies in different countries reveal that social class of origin may still be influencing the chances of PhD holders from low social class being hired at prestigious universities. Drawing from the theory of social and…

Despite the large number of working-class students having to work while attending schools, their work experience and the potential of class solidarity have been largely unaddressed. By bringing in a social psychological perspective, this article revives the sociological debates of working-class solidarity and challenges the defeatist view of…

The purpose of this study is to explore education fever and credentialism in South Korea from the perspective of higher education. To discuss the study logically, three research questions are stated. First, what is the concept of Korean education fever from cultural perspective? Second, what and how has been developed educational credentialism in…

This study focuses on the (in)equality of higher education in mainland China by exploring whether students from elite families in culturally/educationally and economically more developed regions have significant advantages in accessing (elite) higher education institutions. It considers how regional features related to educational resources and…