Browsing by Subject "Habitus"

This master’s thesis sets out to examine the reasons behind high school seniors’ choices in application to higher education. Focus of this thesis is directed to seniors’ family history and future goals. Application reform to Finnish higher education takes place during the making of this thesis and therefore the effects of this reform will be also investigated. I utilize theoretical ideas and concepts by Pierre Bourdieu. Earlier studies have shown that social class is connected to consumption of education. I aim to reveal cultural manuscripts, which are connected to application to higher education. I interviewed ten final year students from two high schools from Helsinki. Both high schools demand high grade point averages from their applicants. Qualitative methods and especially analysis of expectations is used in examining the material. As a conclusion, many cultural manuscripts were found to guide seniors in their choices in applying to higher education. Some of them were more obvious to the seniors than others. The pressure by highly educated parents was an easily recognizable storyline, whereas many manuscripts were formed in such a long period of time and were repeated so frequently that they had become invisible and a natural way of life. Cultural manuscripts were formed within the surroundings and communities of the high school seniors. Resources as well as habitus gained from the childhood has helped seniors in their studies. They had gained working routines and adequate skills to cope in the school system, which has made their studies feel pleasant and relatively effortless. Educational institutions have given validation to their habitus and resources, which has driven the students to follow a cultural manuscript of aiming to the highest of educational paths. The experiences of success in school have motivated seniors to keep going and to aim higher. As a result, many potential options are left as non-alternatives to the seniors during application process and correspondingly other options are considered even if they are not appealing to the applicant.