Book Launch with Kalwant Bhopal

Elite Universities and the Making of Privilege by Professor Kalwant Bhopal, University of Birmingham and Dr Martin Myers, University of Nottingham

This book launch will draw on the recent publication of Elite Universities and the Making of Privilege by Kalwant Bhopal and Martin Myers to discuss current debates on education and inequality and consider the relevance of elite universities’ global brand identities.

Using the work of Bourdieu and critical race theory to explore how identity, experience and family background affects how people navigate the social space of the university, this book is underpinned with empirical research that considers different social, economic and educational contexts. Using interview accounts of graduate students, this book highlights ambiguities in how eliteness works as both a recognisable marker of institutional status and a marker that is rarely quantified or defined.

The launch will discuss the main findings from the study, with an opportunity for questions from the audience.