ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some selected cases from the RANLHE project from Andalusia, Spain. It focuses on the voices of non-traditional students concerning family networks, work experiences and inequalities, as well as efforts made to overcome social, economic and cultural inequalities. In this context, family networks are crucial in order to promote affective and effective support for non-traditional students. The relationships between these stories and class and gender will be stressed as key factors which illuminate the complex interplay between agency and structure in a period of social change. The implications of these accounts will be discussed in order to understand what shapes academic success and drop-out in HE institutions.
