Jacqueline Stevenson

Abstract: This paper explores the under‐researched area of extracurricular activity undertaken by students through the lens of the possible selves literature, which has largely been developed in the North American context. In the UK the employability agenda assumes an orientation towards the future and employers are increasingly expecting students to display capacities beyond those of simply achieving a degree. Extracurricular activity is one site where students might be able to develop these additional capacities towards their future imagined selves. Our case study, based on in‐depth interviews with 61 students, found different orientations towards the future, with only some displaying future selves attuned to employability. Other students were more firmly orientated to the present and developing student identities or unable to elaborate or act on imaged futures because of the contingencies of the present. We conclude that paying attention to differing temporalities and to the insights derived from the possible se...

TL;DR: The authors argue that homogenizing the support needs of young refugees along with those of other minority ethnic students is both inappropriate and insufficient and the cont cont...The authors of The authors show that despite these multiple disadvantages many view higher education as a route out of poverty and discrimination and are highly aspirational and motivated.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors make a number of arguments about the research interview and maintain that, despite the near ubiquity of the method in higher education research, the interview remains under-theorised and mis-described.

TL;DR: In higher education, contemporary higher education policy discourses are being increasingly driven increasingly by international league tables, market competition, and the dominance of prestige culture as mentioned in this paper, with notio...

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that given the conflicting accounts of widening participation, it is highly unlikely that higher education staff will be able articulate a coherent definition of spreading participation practice, and they illustrate their thesis with an institutional case study which analysed policy documents and was based on in-depth interviews with staff.