‘Why can't people see or understand or make that effort to see who I am?’: documenting the experiences of low socioeconomic students at an elite tertiary institution through a social identity lens

For the first time, this study uses a social identity lens, to explore how one group of students reflect on their experience at an elite Australian higher educational institution (HEI). This qualitative research project invited undergraduate, domestic students who self-identified as being from a low-socioeconomic (low-SES) background to participate in a semi-structured interview exploring their experience of transition into university and the support they drew on to continue. We did this with the intent of focusing particularly on the social experience of these students to a) map contributors and challenges to sense of belonging in a setting where these students are catastrophically under-represented, and b) to examine if the international evidence that widening participation students do not benefit from social advancement at an elite institution are replicated in an Australian context, where social class is less openly acknowledged or discussed. The data documents the experience of 12 students from low-SES backgrounds at an elite university where only 4% of the undergraduate domestic student population (total population ~ 10,000) are from a low-socioeconomic background, but where the university provides access to high quality education, social networks and career opportunities. Participant narratives highlight a diversity of experiences and the wealth disparity that impacts individuals’ abilities and desires to engage and connect with the university community. For these students, support was often personal and came down to individuals and interpersonal relationships encouraging these students to continue, while the challenges were institutional, systemic and group-based.