The minority within the minority: The survival strategies of Gypsy and Traveller students in Higher Education

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the barriers faced by Gypsies and Travellers in accessing Higher Education (e.g. Clark, 2004; Mulcahy, Baars, Bowen-Viner and Menzies, 2017; Darcy and Galloway, 2018). This follows decades of research on the attitudes, barriers and experiences of pupils in compulsory education (e.g., Bhopal, 2004; Levinson, 2007, 2014; Hamilton, 2016). However, there is still a lack of research exploring the trajectories of students within Higher Education. Clearly, the barriers that inhibit students’ success at primary and secondary school go some way in explaining the underrepresentation in Higher Education but there is still a lack of understanding of how these students experience Higher Education and the survival strategies they use to strive in such an environment. In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this research draws attention to the stories of students who have succeeded in such educational environment. Using in-depth interviews, we attempted to explore how Gypsy and Traveler students have sustained positive participation during their time in Higher Education and identify the factors that contributed to their success. The results show that students often experienced discrimination and othering in Higher Education Institutions that often resulted in a sense of displacement as students learned to navigate through not only the institutions but their own identities. Playing white, finding a sense of purpose and focus on their studies were the main surviving strategies identified within the individuals studied.