Positioning themselves: an exploration of the nature and meaning of transitions in the context of dual sector FE/HE institutions in England

Abstract

This article explores English policy on widening participation in higher education (HE), drawing on insights from a research study into higher education transitions and ‘dual sector’ institutions. Although further and higher education in England are divided into two sectors, it is possible for one institution to offer both further and higher education. This article examines the nature of transitions in such ‘dual sector’ institutions, and explores the shaping and structuring of HE transitions, as well as students’ experience of such transitions. The article draws on empirical research from a two‐year study which investigates the changing shape and experience of HE in England, and students’ experience of moving between different levels of study. The study includes four case‐study ‘dual sector’ institutions, and this article considers one of these institutions in more detail. The article discusses a number of different forms of transition which arise out of the analysis of the data – institutions in transition, transitions in institutions, and individual student transitions – and draws on Bourdieu’s theoretical ideas to argue that the work that transition is doing in the case‐study institutions might be seen as involving processes of ‘positioning’, whereby institutions and individuals work at defining their place within higher education. Since such positioning both highlights and helps to create a differentiated and stratified system, the article concludes by pointing to the unsettling and complex issues this raises in relation to social justice and equity.