Breaking the barriers: the capacity to aspire for higher education of Bangladesh tea workers’ children

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article aims to examine the structural constraints to aspirations for higher education of tea workers’ offspring in Bangladesh and how some of them overcame these constraints and determined their future pathways. The study was conducted drawing insights from Arjun Appadurai’s capacity to aspire and Pierre Bourdieu’s capital, habitus and field and employing a qualitative case study of two tea gardens in greater Sylhet, Bangladesh. We used a triangulation of methods composed of 54 qualitative intensive interviews, eight case studies and four Focus Group Discussions to collect data. The study finds that teagarden workers’ offspring encountered multiple barriers – economic, social and cultural – to enter higher education. It also reveals that a small number of them, who were relatively well-off and possessed a good amount of economic, social and cultural capital, were able to form their aspirations, break these barriers and access higher education.