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This paper asks whether the institutional hierarchies defined by ‘golden triangle’, other Russell Group, other pre-1992 and post-1992 universities in England, and by ancient, old and new universities in Scotland, have become weaker since the 1990s. Using indicators constructed from Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data for 1996–2010, the article finds a stable hierarchical relationship among the sectors within each country, with some indicators showing a slight widening of status differences between sectors towards the end of the period. The main exception was a slight ‘upgrading’ of new (post-1992) universities in Scotland early in the period. There was little change in the association of institutional sector with social class, but in England the association with private secondary schools became slightly stronger and the association with ethnicity weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This qualitative study explored the university experiences of 13 students from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) communities in England and Scotland. Using conceptual tools, informed by the work of Bourdieu, such as racialised habitus and racialised cultural capital, as well as Elias's work on established-outsider figurations we show that GRT students are 'racialised' outsiders in university established white habitus, with students experiencing the devaluing of their cultural capital including anti-Gypsy and anti-Roma rhetoric within university settings. Moreover, a destabilised habitus was evident, for some, who experienced 'cultural dissonance' between community and university expectations as well as feelings of 'not being good enough'. This was compounded by the racialised controlling images they encountered, resulting in hyper-vigilance about the sharing of their ethnic identity. For some, this led to painfully 'fragmented selves' which was exacerbated by a lack of support from universities and invisibility within institutional established white habitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between students' entry to higher education and the history or status of the secondary school which they attended is examined using school leavers' surveys in Scotland stretching from the early 1950s to the late 1990s. The surveys are unique in the length of this period, their details of the higher-education institutions and schools which students attended, and their information on school attainment and on socio-economic status and sex. Universities, colleges and schools were classified in terms of their history in order to understand the role of educational institutions during three periods of reform – the ending of selection to secondary school between the mid-1960s and the late-1970s, and the two waves of expansion of higher education, in the 1960s and in the 1990s. The conclusion is that the distinctive characteristics of particular categories of institution – their institutional habitus – can modify inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]