ABSTRACT
In his influential studies of the relationship between cultural capital and social inequality, Pierre Bourdieu (1984) famously argued in the French case that as educational opportunities increased, so the goalposts were moved to ensure that it was only a selective group of universities that conveyed access to true elite positions. He thus directed attention away from general analyses of higher education and society towards a more differentiated and nuanced account of the symbolic power of specific institutions. It is striking that despite increasing interest in elite formation, and extensive anecdotal and journalistic interest in the power of elite education to play key consecrating roles in elite formation in Britain, this issue has hardly been examined systematically. This is partly because we currently lack large-scale data and analysis which permit us to unpick how exclusive and significant such processes might be. Here we use the BBC’s Great British Class Survey (GBCS) to provide a uniquely granular account of the impact of attendance at specific British universities in facilitating access to socially advantaged positions. We show that attending elite educational institutions at either secondary or higher education level increases the likelihood of entering elite positions. We further show, on the basis of our analysis of the GBCS, that there are clear and quite wide differences in economic outcomes within the elite group of universities. We see this as endorsing the broad spirit of Bourdieu’s (1984) arguments regarding the ‘changing goalposts’ implicated in the expansion of higher education. However, we also note that entry to elite positions is not monopolized by graduates of elite institutions, nor does an elite education guarantee an elite outcome.
