‘Cultural capital in the wrong currency’: the reflective accounts of scholarship students attending elite secondary schools

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the awarding of scholarships to students from historically disadvantaged communities to attend elite schools in South Africa. Specifically, the article analyses the narrated accounts of former scholarship recipients who reflect on their experiences of entering an elite secondary school as scholarship students. Using Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital to explain the interviewees’ experiences in the elite school space, the article shows that success in one part of an educational field does not necessarily equate to success in another. Further, providing students with the financial means to access elite education does not mean that they enter into the school contexts as ‘equal players’. As such, what the article highlights is that the acceptance of a scholarship for students from historically disadvantaged communities is far more complex and multi-layered than is anticipated by all stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Scholarship programmes
• elite schools
• cultural capital
• Bourdieu
• South African schooling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Feldman

Jennifer Feldman is a lecturer in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University. Her research and teaching focus primarily on issues of education, policy and management in relation to South African education; marginalised students, diversity, inclusivity and social justice; and the integration of technology in teaching and learning in diverse educational contexts.

Jennifer Wallace

Jennifer Wallace is a principal of a government girls-only school in South Africa. The focus of her research work, and recently submitted PhD, is on the experiences of scholarship students within elite educational institutions.