ABSTRACT
This chapter records the experiences of a group of women as they make the transition from school or college to university and what influenced the decisions they made. The chapter begins with the biographies of those involved in the study garnered from interview data which focus on routes into higher education as well as personal aspirations and expectations affecting career options. This includes discussion about the influences of family, friends, and community on their career choices, their engagement with school and/or college, and how important this was in relation to the choices they made. In addition, the interviews explored the impact of gender, ‘race’, and class as well as finance on their choices. Each of the participants has a unique biography which reflects their experiences of gender, ‘race’, and class, in the context of institutional, personal, and workforce relations. However, there are also aspects of their accounts which overlap, and these commonalities highlight the complex interrelationship between individual and shared experiences. The final part of the chapter analyses the data by addressing, firstly, how the participants navigated pathways into university and what influenced and informed their decisions, and, secondly, examines how social position and available capital affect the women’s choices
