Time and date: 10.30 am - 12.00 pm, Thursday, December 7, 2006
Place: Arts Lecture Room 6, University of Western Australia, Crawley Campus, Crawley
Chair: Julie McMillan, Australian Council for Educational Research
Shaping the Will of Autonomous Entities: Reflections on School Choice and the Creation of Neo-liberal Subjects
Martin Forsey, University of Western Australia
In a world in which the private is favoured over the public, where the welfare state is disparaged and consumption is heralded as the great social force for change, it is useful to contemplate how people simultaneously become, and resist becoming, neo-liberal subjects. Larner (2005) argues that this line of questioning is rarely pursued by social researchers because they are primarily focused on neo-liberalism as a 'top-down impositional discourse'. As she suggests, neo-liberalism is a multi-layered, multi-vocal, and deeply social phenomenon. Schools offer a useful means for analysing neo-liberalism as a social practice. Adopting a cultural production approach and drawing upon Beck et al's (2003) portrait of second modernity, I use interviews conducted in 2005 among parents and their children about their choice of schooling to analyse the extent to which the prevailing social order shapes the power and the wills of autonomous entities (Rose 1992).
Life Chances: Education and Career Aspirations
Lucy Nelms and Janet Taylor, Brotherhood of St Laurence
Young people's education and work outcomes are key factors in the persistence of social inequality and disadvantage. Analysis of national longitudinal survey data has revealed that family socio-economic status has little effect on post-school plans, but a strong effect on the ability of young people to realise these plans (Beavis et al 2004).Using qualitative data from the Brotherhood of St Laurence's longitudinal Life Chances Study this paper explores the educational and employment aspirations of participants who have grown up in persistently low-income families. The study has followed the lives of 142 children and their families since the children's birth in inner Melbourne in 1990. This paper draws on 32 interviews with 15 year olds exploring the development of their education and employment aspirations, factors influencing this process and their perceptions of what might help them achieve their goals. Comparisons will be drawn with:
Implications for policy will be raised.
Rising Competition for University in Melbourne and its Impact on Disadvantaged Students
Daniel Edwards, Monash University
There are a wide variety of universities, university campuses and courses in Melbourne available to those with a desire for higher education. Applications for university are generally accepted on the basis of previous educational attainment. In the case of the majority of university applicants - current year 12 graduates - this is based on their year 12 final mark, or the ENTER. The allocation of the ENTER across all year 12 students at the end of year 12 essentially occurs on the assumption that all students compete on a level playing field. However, this is far from the reality of the education system.
This paper analyses university application data for Victorian year 12 completers between 2000 and 2003. It shows that the competition for entrance to university in Melbourne increased during this period and that this increase affected some groups of students more than others. This paper investigates the impact of this increased competition on two groups of students, those in the government sector, and those in the outer suburban areas of the city.
A short open discussion on possible future directions and activities for the group will follow these papers.
Time and date: 8.00 pm, Monday, December 4, 2006
Place: Lambretta Cucina Italiana, 45b Hampden Road, Nedlands
Members of the Social Stratification Thematic Group will be meeting for dinner at the time and place mentioned above. The Lambretta Cucina Italiana is a nice, friendly place about a kilometre walk from the Crawley Campus of the University of Western Australia. Prices are reasonable and vegetarian options are available.
Some reviews can be found here, here, and here.
If you would like to come along, please RSVP as soon as possible by emailing Martin Forsey at:
All welcome.