Educational inequality and transitions to university in Australia: aspirations, agency and constraints

This paper is based on research into the destinations and aspirations of school leavers in Australia. It investigates the relationship between the transition to university for different groups of students and their own and their parents' and teachers' expectations. It draws on Bourdieu, Boudon, Nussbaum and others to investigate the way young people construct their aspirations. It examines the limits of young people's agency, which is bound by their understanding of the hidden and informal rules that govern access to different spaces within the curriculum as well as access to post-school destinations. Navigating these transitions is becoming more important and more complex with the increasing emphasis on higher level qualifications in an education market.