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The Transition to University: Dissonance, Validation and Meritocratic Subjectivities

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Self-Made Men

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Abstract

This chapter documents the transition to university as a process of dissonance and validation. In drawing on empirical data from the boys in The First-in-Family Males Project, their parents and their teachers, the chapter shows how their transition was restricted by resources which rendered many of them academically underprepared for university life. The chapter identifies some of the ways in which masculinities are in a process of becoming in relation to the ‘rough ride’ of the first few weeks where many participants struggled to acclimatize to university and embarked on an entirely different pathway. The boys who could make university work for them came to identify strongly with meritocratic subjectivities as they crafted identities aligned with the neoliberal agenda of the institution.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The My School website provides information that supports national transparency and accountability of Australia’s school education system. Adding some complexity, not every student who earns a certificate gets an ATAR. Furthermore, certain subjects do not count towards the ATAR but are still taught in schools.

  2. 2.

    Some bonus points are awarded under the equity schemes and some are awarded to encourage students who have studied certain English and Maths subjects.

  3. 3.

    It should be noted that scholarship on spoon feeding is sparse and what does exist is mainly focused on spoon feeding in the higher education sector as opposed to the secondary school sector.

  4. 4.

    For those who continued to attend university after the first year, the data suggests they began to form more of a sense of their own positionality in relation to social class.

  5. 5.

    Interestingly, none of the participants mentioned that for their parents’ generation university was free.

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  1. School of Education, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Garth Stahl

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Stahl, G. (2022). The Transition to University: Dissonance, Validation and Meritocratic Subjectivities. In: Self-Made Men. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07954-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07954-2_5

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