This paper challenges the notion that quantitative data -- as a numeric truth -- exist independent of a nation's political and racial landscape. Utilising large-scale national attainment data, the analysis challenges the belief that 'White working class' children in England, especially boys, are 'the new oppressed' -- as a former equality adviser…

An intersectional approach to human development emphasizes the multiple social categories individuals occupy, some of which confer privilege (e.g., being White) and some of which confer marginalization (e.g., being poor). This approach is needed especially in critical consciousness scholarship, and particularly in regard to understanding whether…

"Setting" is a widespread practice in the UK, despite little evidence of its efficacy and substantial evidence of its detrimental impact on those allocated to the lowest sets. Taking a Bourdieusian approach, we propose that setting can be understood as a practice through which the social and cultural reproduction of dominant power…

Declining Catholic school enrollment rates coupled with increasing numbers of Latino Catholics (in the US) have prompted Catholic leaders to interrogate how they can best engage and meet the needs of the Latino community (Alliance for Catholic Education, 2009; Ospino, 2014). Much of this work focuses on how Catholic schools can attract Latino…

This article contributes to the theory of institutional habitus by exploring the differing ways in which the institutional habitus of two schools in Belfast, Northern Ireland mediates the local habitus of working-class boys. All of the boys in this qualitative case study live in the same disadvantaged working-class community but attend two…

Research shows that unemployed working class men are least likely to participate in education and training. Recruitment strategies should address their need to work, encourage collective action, and offer learning opportunities in familiar environments. (SK)

A study of young white British men beyond school-leaving age found that many are confused, distrusting, and aggressive; are involved with drugs or crime; are resistant to the "deficiency" model of basic skills training; lack a life framework and real work skills; and come from family backgrounds with long-term negative attitudes about…

A long-term study of 456 inner-city males showed that, by age 47, the children of chronically dependent and multiproblem families were almost indistinguishable from the children of more stable families in terms of mean income, years of employment, criminality, and mental health. (CMG)