Aspirations and expectations: investigating the development of ‘possible selves’ of young people in UK secondary education

This study explores the aspirational thinking of 60 year 9 students at two schools in southern England, particularly as it relates to participation in higher education. It utilises the concept of possible selves to investigate how they imagine themselves in the future. Its mixed methods approach has employed Q methodology and semi-structured interviews with seven of the 60 participants. Each participant each completing their own Q-sort of 90 statement cards according to how closely they relate to them. The Q-set of statements builds on the work of Kerpelman and colleagues (2006) adapting the approach for the UK context and younger age group. Three distinct viewpoints emerged (‘Informed Aspiration’; ‘Risk and Uncertainty’; and ‘Ambivalent Ambition’). Informed Aspiration encapsulated a relatively high level of expectation towards participation in higher education along with confidence in achieving a fulfilling role in future years. Risk and Uncertainty reflected perceived risk and uncertainty, with expectations limited by concerns about the future. Ambivalent Ambition featured what appeared to be ambivalent ambition; the pursuit of capital and the trappings of a wealthy life despite a lack of guidance about how to do so. Seven participants from across the three viewpoints whose Q-sorts most closely represented each respective viewpoint were interviewed, with the aim of further exploring the nature of each viewpoint and also to explore the relationship between their perceptions of class and the nature of their possible selves. A key theme within this thesis is the potential of perceived class status and classed experiences generally to influence young people’s possible selves. This study offers an analysis of the aspirations and imagined possible selves of a group of young people at the point of commencing their GCSE qualifications, having just experienced the major upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic. It reveals the contrasting ways young people from relatively homogenous groups imagine their futures, calling into question the assumed ‘uniformity of response’ (Archer, 2007) influencing current policy and practice in the field of widening participation. It makes an original contribution to knowledge by illustrating how young people articulate class-related notions of possible selves despite not having a clear sense of classed identity, as well as bringing together Q methodology and semi-structured interviews to explore this area of personal subjectivity. Using a critical realist theoretical framework, it identifies structures, mechanisms and processes influencing young people’s aspirations, focusing particularly on the place of higher education within those thoughts about the future, and it contributes to the ongoing debate about the enduring disparities between higher education participation across socio-economic groups.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Ridley, Joanna

Contributors dc:contributor

• Alexander, Patrick
• Wright, Susannah
• Brown, Carol

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/3amp-eg37

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:80c69441-5262-46bc-a2a8-0c04e7ddbb77:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1