This article was downloaded by: [University of Leeds]
On: 24 September 2012, At: 11:26
Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Race Ethnicity and Education
Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cree20
Searching for autonomy: young black
men, schooling and aspirations
a
Ian Law , Sarah Finney & Sarah Jane Swann
a
University of Leeds, School of Sociology and Social Policy, Leeds,
UK
Version of record first published: 24 Sep 2012.
To cite this article: Ian Law, Sarah Finney & Sarah Jane Swann (2012): Searching for
autonomy: young black men, schooling and aspirations, Race Ethnicity and Education,
DOI:10.1080/13613324.2012.725036
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.725036
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-andconditions
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation
that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any
instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary
sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,
demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Race Ethnicity and Education
2012, 1–22, iFirst article
Searching for autonomy: young black men, schooling and
aspirations
Ian Law*, Sarah Finney and Sarah Jane Swann
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
University of Leeds, School of Sociology and Social Policy, Leeds, UK
This article examines the relationships between being young and black,
and educational and career aspirations, drawing on new research evidence from two recent studies carried out in two urban locations in
Northern England. The first of these studies forms part of a wider
research project concerned with analysing the connections between
aspects of racism, ethnicity and schooling in nine European countries
recently completed in February 2011 and which included a quantitative
survey of 30–40 young black (Caribbean/African) 15-year-old school
pupils followed up by qualitative community-based fieldwork. The material examined here focuses on the perceptions and experiences of this
specific group. The second smaller study involved multi-method research
with 10 young black men in Leeds. In particular this article highlights
the driving search for personal autonomy and agency on the part of
young black men, which for many can and does, become manifest in
strong levels of educational and career aspirations which are no different
from other groups of young people. Further it identifies some of the creative strategies, for example in drawing on forms of social capital and
other networks and resources to reinforce, cultivate and reaffirm aspirations and hopes, which will be of critical importance in determining the
future outcomes of this group of young people.
Keywords: black; young men; education; aspirations
Introduction
This article explores the connections between educational achievement and
aspirations amongst young black Caribbean/African men in urban settings in
Northern England. Current academic discourse and statistics show that black
ethnic groups are consistently being under-represented in the areas of education and skilled professions, with the prevalence of intergenerational poverty
amongst this community a precursor to a life of poverty and limited life
chances (Platt 2005). By the age of 24, figures suggest that 44% of black
people are not in education, employment or training, compared to fewer than
25% of white people (EHRC 2010). Black young adults are also three times
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
ISSN 1361-3324 print/ISSN 1470-109X online
Ó 2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.725036
http://www.tandfonline.com
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
2
I. Law et al.
more likely to be in prison than white young adults, and this indicates a
continuing crisis regarding the position of this group in relation to the criminal justice system (EHRC 2010). Five times more black people than white
people are imprisoned in England and Wales and there is now greater disproportionality in the number of black people in prisons in Britain than in
the USA. A continuing linkage between blackness, violence, masculinity
and dangerousness and the ensuing high profile misrepresentation of young
black men in the news media has been exacerbated by both government and
media response to a series of shooting, stabbings and related violent incidents in the UK (Sveinsson 2008; Law 2002).
National controversy over black male youth has focused on the problems
of gangs and gang-related violent crime, under-performance in education
and the labour market, school exclusions, over-representation in the criminal
justice system, absentee fathers and low aspirations. In response, it has been
argued that there are a large number of young black men who have high
conformist aspirations, strong aspirational capital (John 2008; Yosso 2005;
Byfield 2008; Wright, Standen, and Patel 2010) and who succeed, despite
institutional racism in school environments including receiving harsher punishments, being over-represented in the lowest ranked teaching groups and
being taught by less experienced staff, with lower expectations and entered
for the lowest ‘tiered’ examinations (Gillborn and Rollock 2010). The need
to rethink the construction of black masculinities and multiple identities and
move beyond pathological, one-dimensional accounts of educational experiences has been advocated in the context of the disjunction evident in these
debates (Donnor and Brown 2011).
The educational policy environment for addressing ethnic minority
achievement is steadily deteriorating in the UK exacerbated by the impact
of public expenditure cuts on innovatory provision. The move away from
prioritising issues of racial and ethnic equality in educational policy is clear
in the silence on many of these issues from the Department of Education
and reflects the explicit rejection of multiculturalism and policies to address
ethnic diversity made recently by the Prime Minister, in a speech in Munich
(Cameron 2011, see also Lentin and Titley 2011, for a critique of UK and
European political ideologies of multiculturalism). This follows the prior
shift by New Labour away from multicultural/antiracist school strategies
(Tomlinson 2008; Gilborn 2008). The Department of Education website
(accessed 7/4/11) now contains practically no information or guidance for
schools on matters of ethnic minority achievement which is very different to
the mass of reports and guidance made available to schools under New
Labour. Overall, this new climate of muscular majoritarianism and strengthening neo-liberalism resulting in the decimation of progressive interventions
marks a political acceptance of increasing racial and ethnic inequalities, an
indifference to the racialisation of education and hostility to race and ethnic
specific policies and programmes.
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Race Ethnicity and Education
3
In this hostile structural context the strength of educational and career
aspirations is of particular importance. With emerging literature in the USA
signifying the importance of ‘aspiration cultivation’ and linking a high level
of aspiration for the future with high achievement in life, it will be argued that
it is important to recognise the individual’s role and actions in maintaining a
successful life trajectory. Even within the context of structural constraints and
perceived barriers, empirical studies have shown that high aspirations play an
important role (Goodman and Gregg 2010; Markus and Nurius 1986; Stevenson and Clegg 2010). The strength of educational aspirations generally
amongst black and minority ethnic parents and children has been empirically
established recently in fieldwork in East London (Butler and Hamnett 2011)
This therefore lead us to examine the aspirations of black working class communities in selected fieldwork contexts in Northern England and to assess the
nature and extent of aspirations for education and future career trajectories
amongst black young men. This article will seek to address this question
within the context of ethnic, cultural and social pedagogy.
Firstly the connections between black masculinity, class and aspirations
are introduced. Then two new pieces of fieldwork in two different urban
locations in Northern England are presented. The first of these studies forms
part of a wider research project concerned with analysing the connections
between aspects of racism, ethnicity and schooling in none European countries recently completed in February 2011 and which included a quantitative
survey of 30–40 young black 15-year-old school pupils followed up by
qualitative community-based fieldwork. The second smaller study involved
multi-method research with 10 young black men in Leeds. In particular this
article highlights the driving search for personal autonomy and agency on
the part of young black men, which for many can and does, manifest itself
in strong levels of educational and career aspirations which are no different
from other groups of young people.
Mobility and masculinity
Many researchers have focused on the highly contested topic of (black) masculinities and its part in shaping black boys’ schooling experience and thus
their future options for upward social mobility in society. Frosh, Phoenix
and Pattman (2003), Mac an Ghaill (1994), Sewell (1997), Wright et al.
(2010) and Epstein et al (1998) have found evidence to suggest that the
pressure to conform to the ideal image of masculinity is seen to be a contributing factor to boys not performing so well at school. Rather than boys
being free to choose how they conduct themselves in the context of school,
Frosh, Phoenix and Pattman (2003) argue that the exact opposite is true;
boys are often balancing the desire to do well and satisfying the expectations of peer pressure to be seen as ‘cool’ and ‘popular,’ with the epitome
of hegemonic masculinity involving ‘hardness, sporting prowess, coolness,
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
4
I. Law et al.
casual treatment of schoolwork and being adept at cussing’ (Frosh, Phoenix
and Pattman 2003, 86). When focusing on racialised masculinities, discourses dictate that the pattern is concurrent with the critical ‘contemporary
masculinity’ debate and that dominant ideology and notions of what it
means to be a man is in opposition to academic success or taking schoolwork seriously. Sewell (1997, 2009) notes that some black boys regard academic interests as both effeminate behaviour and ‘acting white’ and look on
this orientation with disdain.
The significance of racially and ethnically structured inequalities of income
and wealth partially explains differentials in and the related effects of outcomes in housing, education and labour markets. But they do not adequately
account for the diverse range of creative strategies that young black men take
in response to these exterior environments even when, ‘educational qualifications are such a strong determinant of later-life income and opportunities…
and a major contributing factor to patterns of social mobility’ (Goodman and
Gregg 2010, 5). Further research into this area has found that the UK has one
of the steepest socio-economic gradients in education and that children from
the UK from disadvantaged backgrounds do worse than those from advantaged backgrounds by a much greater amount than elsewhere (Hirsch 2007).
Yet, although social class is a salient predictor of achievement for the
majority of white students, Wright et al. (2010) confirm that it is less salient
for black pupils. Also, family origins (which do have a class dimension)
continue to have an impact on children’s success, over and above their educational attainment (Platt 2005). In analysing the link between poor children’s attainment and the importance of attitude (aspirations) in high levels
of educational attainment, an intergenerational study in the UK has shown
although parents and children from poorer backgrounds had much lower
expectations than those from richer backgrounds expectations to move onto
higher education were high across the board.
It is also important to recognise the individual’s role in this process,
emerging literature in America and a pocket of empirical studies within the
UK have started to address the link between achievement and a high level
of aspiration and grounded sense of self and life course trajectories. However, these studies are sporadic, sparse and mainly based within American
literature when addressing ethnic aspirations and life trajectories. There are
various key theorists within this area (Markus and Nurius 1986; Stevenson
and Clegg 2010) with strong evidence to suggest that those with ‘fully
developed aspirations’ are more likely to achieve than those who do not
have high aspirations for the future. This link between high aspirations and
high achievement has been recognised by policymakers and the government
with high impact interventions being commissioned to raise pupils’ aspirations from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Initiatives such as ‘Aimhigher’
and ‘Aim High for Young People’ (Goodman and Gregg 2010) have been
proven to have ‘strongly positive impacts on aspirations for HE and GCSE
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Race Ethnicity and Education
5
attainment’. Linked closely to these perceptions is the social psychological
concept of ‘possible selves’ coined by Markus and Nurius (1986). Although
in differing research paradigms there is close association to the concept of
‘aspirations,’ which is taken and linked to cognitive and motivational theories to explain the link between ‘aspiring’ and ‘acting’. Possible selves are
representations of the self in the future, including ideas of what they would
like to become and what they are afraid of becoming. The more developed
the possible self then the more it will motivate a person to act (Stevenson
and Clegg 2010). Also students with a highly elaborated sense of possible
selves tend to achieve more academically and show greater levels of motivation than other students. However, within possible selves is the essential link
between self concept and motivation, playing a cognitive and affective role
in motivation. The more developed the possible self then the more it will
motivate a person to act (Stevenson and Clegg 2010). Within this field further work has been devoted to understanding the development of aspirations
and possible selves at different stages of the life course. Authenticating
Goodman and Gregg’s (2010) results, the career development theory denotes
that individuals’ career aspirations become more realistic and crystallised as
they approach their senior year in school. However, it is imperative that we
take into consideration the effect of family, friends, school, gender, class
and race, possible selves are always embodied in and borne out of social
influences, they are not exclusively individual. Here, such factors as parental
encouragement and the role school teachers play is very much a reciprocal
process whereby possible selves are validated and affirmed or threatened or
ignored by those around us. Furthermore, students with a highly elaborated
sense of possible selves are likely to achieve more academically and show
greater levels of motivation than other students. Although much of the
empirical work on black students’ aspirations has been carried out in America there is much resonance between the black American and black British
students’ position, in that they do not perform as well in relation to their
white counterparts and their socio-economic status and background. More
work needs to be carried out to further understand the nature and determinants of the educational and life aspirations of young black men and the
extent to which high aspirations are being ‘cooled out’ as students make
their way through educational, family and peer contexts and into adulthood
(Solorzano 1992). This article presents some new evidence from two recent
studies to contribute to this debate carried out in two different urban locations in Northern England.
The perceptions and experiences of young black men in school in a
northern city
The first set of data is drawn from a large cross-national quantitative and
qualitative study of ethnicity and schooling which was primarily concerned
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
6
I. Law et al.
with comparing the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe in relation to
minority ethnic and migrant groups in Western Europe. This data is used
selectively here to examine the strength of educational aspirations amongst
young black pupils and the connections between this and wider school and
neighbourhood interactions and experiences. This was a European Union
Framework 7 research project entitled EDUMIGROM (2008–2011) (for
working papers and country reports see www.edumigrom.eu). A quantitative
survey of 434 Year 10 pupils was carried out in three multicultural secondary schools. All the three schools had about one third ethnic minority pupils
but varied widely in their intake from inner city areas (from 93%, 68% and
23% respectively). This was followed up by qualitative research which
included, focus-group discussions and in-depth personal interviews with students, school personnel and parents, further interviews with community and
educational informants, classroom observations, case studies of schools and
minority ethnic groups and ethnographic fieldwork into youth and community cultures. The purpose of this stage of the research was to investigate
the factors and motivations behind varying school performances and diverging educational careers, the impact of ethnicity on everyday life in school,
experiences of being ‘othered’ and perceptions of identity. In collecting the
quantitative data it is estimated that the survey included approximately 30–
40 black male pupils. A precise figure is not given as there was a significant
number from this group who actively chose to not respond to the ethnicity
question resisting bureaucratic and administrative classification and categorisation as an ethnically defined group preferring instead to emphasise their
universal humanity.
This research presents new evidence on the importance of ethnic differentials in school experiences, patterns of informal ethnic segregation and the
significance of inter-ethnic and peer hostilities in school life. It also identifies the negative impact of gang and ‘gangsta’ culture, racial stereotyping
and streaming on educational experiences. This research also challenges any
connection between ethnicity and low educational aspirations (apart from
the case of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers where high dropout and high levels of disaffection with school are particularly marked). The UK experience
shows that despite significant achievements in developing integrated, nondiscriminatory educational systems persistent patterns of hostility, segregation and inequality remain. The full study plus comparative analysis placing
this evidence in a European context is to be published later this year (Law
and Swann 2011), and some of the key findings relating solely to young
black male pupils are now presented.
The key finding from this data is that there is no clear or strong link
between being young, black and male and having low educational or career
aspirations. There was surprising similarity across all ethnic groups with
approximately 70% intending to continue studying after GCSEs which is a
fairly optimistic indicator that pupils are motivated, have raised aspirations
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Race Ethnicity and Education
7
and subscribe to the endorsed view that education brings better prospects.
There was no evidence here of lower aspirations on the part of young black
men. Indeed collectively young black men and women also had very similar
levels of employment aspirations to those held by white pupils with about
65% seeking to progress into white collar occupations. So, over 70% pupils
in these multicultural schools from all ethnic groups strongly recognised that
education was a key means of improving life chances and despite widely
varying home backgrounds and school experiences aspirations were high.
However over a quarter of pupils did not take this view and this educational
disaffection across all groups clearly needs addressing.
Young black pupils had more negative general perception’s of core subjects taught at school and their evaluation of their perception of their own
work produced in the last 12 months for these subjects was also lower than
other groups. Three quarters of black pupils also felt that they had experienced unfair treatment in relation to their behaviour compared to others in
the school. They were twice as likely to feel the way sanctions were distributed among pupils was an issue compared to other pupils. These factors
would seem to strongly shape their feelings about the school and on their
educational aspirations and this may impact on academic achievement. They
were also less likely to experience the atmosphere in their classrooms as
‘friendly and cohesive’ compared to white pupils and more likely to identify
hostility from other pupils.
Many of the schemes aimed specifically at improving the achievement of
minority ethnic youth were been received positively and have had real
effects on improving academic performance, this was the case for pupils
attending the Fellowship Study Support programme evidenced by attendance
and achievement records. However, despite pupils’ enjoyment, in the Fellowship programme they tended to organise themselves in seating arrangements according to ethnicity. A mentoring programme aimed at AfricanCaribbean pupils had an antagonistic effect on some through its specified
ethnic focus. African-Caribbean boys in particular showed strong opposition
to the creation of ethnic boundaries, one boy stated, ‘I feel abused’ by such
projects. Another said, ‘…we don’t need no help, we are capable ourselves,
but it puts us down anyway. It makes us think that we are dumb,’ whereas
for others the experience was positive.
Young black men were strongly aware of the external environment of
negative, hostile racial stereotyping. Unjust stereotyping of their community
arose frequently in discussions with pupils from this group and with it a
sense of outrage. Stereotypes for black boys in particular were highly negative such as ‘either being drug dealers, criminals, being in jail’ or ‘not getting any GCSEs’ and being seen to ‘mess up their lives’. Blackness and
African-ness is seen as symbolically threatening with its associations of drug
culture, crime, violence and therefore danger. Although there is a sense of
empowerment which comes from being conceived of as a dangerous entity,
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
8
I. Law et al.
this also functions a form of disempowerment. Black young women considered the masculine stereotype in terms of actors in potential romantic relationships. This too presents a negative image, ‘he is a woman beater, he is a
man slag, he cheats on his girlfriends. That is the typical Black guy’ (African-Caribbean girl, School 3). African-Caribbean girls shared some of the
same stereotypes, ‘She’s a bitch, she’s right hard, she’ll bang you, don’t
mess with her’ (African-Caribbean girl, School 3).
Neighbourhood location, postcode gangs and masculine ‘gangsta’ culture
are imported into everyday school life fuelling violence/bullying which
undermines attainment (for example, this was reported by 43% of all pupils
in School 1 and 28% in school 3). The physical divide between neighbourhoods was entrenched further through the existence of postcode gangs in the
wider community. An important part of identity for African-Caribbean
pupils, particularly for boys, was bound up with allegiance to area. Overall
much of this was bound up with ideas of ‘hard’ masculinity and involvement in gangs marked the transition to adulthood. It was a way to assert
identity but the seriousness of the implications of this can however not be
underestimated since there had been shootings in the area linked to gang
wars. Visual reminders of this were very much evident, ‘If you walk past
the barbers now when the shutters are down you can see the bullet holes.’
Pupil involvement in postcode gangs cut across disaffected and conformist
identities in school. Indeed institutional processes of streaming fuelled
dynamics of inclusion/exclusion but there is evidence that some pupils could
negotiate differing roles, e.g. across ‘boffin’ (achievement orientated) and
‘gangsta’ (street orientated) positions which challenges the binary of academic achiever/disaffected.
Highly complex and differentiated positions, strategies and perceptions
were articulated by young people in relation to their experiences of school
and community life. Young people’s yearning to escape being ‘othered,’ or
being subject to racially differential, negative treatment compared to the
white majority norm, was strongly voiced with some able to articulate narratives of emancipation and liberation from differential and discriminatory
treatment. But many felt locked into and unable to escape a tangled web
of constraining circumstances and social worlds with serious consequences
in terms of declining educational aspirations and dropout from the educational system altogether. In reaction many young black men seemed to
experience a sense of relative disconnection from family, community and
peer networks which did provide space for reflection and autonomy. This
is related to the resistance to ethnic classification in the context of our ethnicity school survey noted above and indicates a commonality in individual
strategies of fighting for human autonomy and personal space from which
to come to terms with the social world. A deeper examination of the lives
and experiences of 10 young black men in Leeds is presented in the next
section.
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Race Ethnicity and Education
9
Ten young black men and their aspirations in a different northern city
This second piece of research involved multi-method research with 10
young black men from Caribbean and black African heritage carried out in
2009–2010. They were all recruited from a summer school run by Leeds
Metropolitan University’s Widening Participation department. The boys
were interviewed in their homes or at school, with the interview schedule
following a very loose structure. In the recruitment session, arts-based
methods were used, with the boys completing self-portraits and timelines.
A questionnaire was also sent out to the young people after the interviews
had taken place. An integrative mixed methods approach of ‘data triangulation’ was deemed most appropriate for this study. The research design
comprises purposive sampling, semi-structured interviewing, graphic elicitation and arts based methods (self-portraits and relational maps), and the
questionnaire. Three key themes are examined here and a myriad of smaller findings and trends, whilst drawing on empirical examples from within
the dataset.
The myth of low aspirations
Much academic discourse on black youth dictates that a general attitude of
low aspirations for future career and life trajectories is a hegemonic trait
within this group. This is reflected in popular discourse on the formation of
black masculinities, which is argued to be adverse to academic success and
achievement (Epstein et al. 1998; Frosh, Phoenix and Pattman 2003; Sewell
1997). Furthermore, it is argued that black culture and family values further
feed the low aspirational values that young black boys have, with little
emphasis being placed on education. In contrast to this approach Reynolds
(2009) has confirmed that contrary to popular belief, non-resident black
fathers are active participants in their children's lives and play a key part in
motivating and supporting aspirations.
In this study black youths spoke of their desire to achieve and do well in
life with high aspirations for their future academic success, the majority
spoke gallantly and positively about their future prospects. All of these
young people wanted to continue on to further and higher education, with
many already having a firm idea on what courses they would like to take up
at college and then university. With their ideas for academic and future success in their careers evident in the interviews, this attitude was re-affirmed
through the production of drawings and timelines – see Figures 1 and 2.
As is shown in Zach’s timeline above and Michael’s self-portrait, their
aspirations are to have academic success in college/sixth form and university, then go on to have a successful professional career and then settle
down with a family. The life trajectories of Michael and Zach mirrored that
of the sample, with high aspirations for the future and success in similar
areas of their lives.
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
10
I. Law et al.
Figure 1. Michael’s self-portrait.
Figure 2. Zach’s timeline.
It was also evidenced that the boys held getting a good education in high
esteem and would manoeuvre themselves appropriately if this was at risk of
being threatened. The boys were asked a question:
Mark…is really popular. He messes about with his friends most of the time,
and has stopped bothering with his school work.… Mark knows if he works
harder his friends will tease him and might fall out with him. What should he
do? (Extract from Real Life Methods Survey: MRUK)
Race Ethnicity and Education
11
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
All of this group felt that they would not let their friends stand in the way
of them achieving, even at the risk of the friendship. Many indicated that
‘Mark’ should stop messing around and get on with his work as education
is important. When asked what they would do in that situation, there was a
similar response with many stating that they would get on with their school
work. Testament to the importance levied on education Krispin1 stated ‘I
now realise education is all I need’ as a response. Their responses can, however, be met with some trepidation and that in a hypothetical situation this
is what they would like to do, there is however some ambiguity over whatever they would actually act in the way they have said if they were put into
that particular situation.
Ambiguity about the future
Although a small number of people from this group were not completely
sure what they would like to do in the future they spoke of the importance
of planning for the future, but felt uncomfortable planning too far ahead,
with Krispin stating that he just simply ‘could not see himself in the future.’
When asked about what they would like to be doing in 10 years time Jordon
noted that there was no point in planning that far ahead just in case you
couldn’t follow your plan. Although there was a certain sense of ambiguity
about setting down concrete plans for the long term future, many of the
boys seemed happy to plan in the short term and had an idea about what
they would like to do in next 2–4 years of their lives. This sense of ambiguity is reflected in Figure 3:
As can be seen in Krispin’s timeline he feels that the future holds all
sorts of possibilities and although he stated that he could not picture himself
Figure 3. Krispin’s timeline.
12
I. Law et al.
as an adult he spoke at length about the more immediate future and what
course he would like to take at college and had developed an aspirational
future self as a student. This shows that he asserted strong affiliation to his
future happiness and the part that education would play in it:
I – Where have these ideas about university come from?
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
R – You’ve got students across the road. And they always look happy. And
do you know when I’m not happy and they’re happy, it makes me think, ‘Oh
I wanna be like that.’
When talking to the boys in further depth about their ideas and plans for the
future it was evident that their decisions were not based on thoughtless or
vacuous ideas, in terms of following the ‘normal’ trend of this generation in
aspiring to go to college and university; with the accessibility and popularity
of university increasing ten-fold from that of a decade ago. These were
informed and mature decisions and they understood the importance of education as a factor in having a successful career. Many talked about this in
great length and detail:
J – Cos it open, say like you get your, say, like, you go to University and get
a degree, then you’re open to a lot of jobs
SF – Mmmm. Yeah
J – So if you just went to college then you left, then you’re not really open.
Well you are open, but not open to, like you know
J – …Materials, IT, Maths and Economics
I – …what are you planning on doing at university then?
J – Probably, I wanna do maybe Maths cos that, that’ll, that’s what people are
looking for in jobs and stuff like that
I – Mmm
J – And then probably study the Economics side as well cos I need that as well
R – …I just wanted to continue education…cos obviously what I knew was
that I need some GCSEs to be going to work in certain places. Cos I don’t
want to be a carpenter, or a joiner or anything. And I’m wide, and my options
are varied. I could be a vet one day and fly planes another day. So I need
GCSEs, that’s it really
From the excerpts it can be seen that many understood that having better
qualifications could propel you up the social mobility ladder and increase
Race Ethnicity and Education
13
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
your future prospects. The type of jobs that they wanted to go on to do was
also discussed, with many aspiring to have professional careers in skilled
jobs. These ranged from being an architect, accountant, to having their own
business, to computer science and engineering. Many also disregarded manual, trade or lower skilled jobs.
The key value of support networks in ascertaining future trajectories
The value of the support networks that the boys drew upon in order to help
them make future decisions about their education, career and future life trajectories emerged as an integral part of their key transitions through the education system, i.e. deciding whether or not to go on to college or sixth
form; which courses to take; career decisions. This abundant resource will
be referred to as two types of capital ‘higher educational’ and ‘aspirational’
capital. With reference to ‘higher educational capital’ it was apparent that in
making key decisions about their future education the boys developed strategies to seek advice from those that had ‘lived’ and ‘relevant’ experience of
the educational system and could therefore be in a position to help them
make an informed decision. Many of the boys deemed this to be the best
strategy and this often turned out to be a close cousin, parent or sibling,
who had gone or who was currently at university. The second type of capital
is that of ‘aspirational’ capital, which is a similar concept to that of Yosso’s
(2005) in that it indicates the ability to maintain hopes and dreams, however
unrealistic, however, the point of contention that was found is that the aspirations were not deemed to be unrealistic and in forming their ideas for the
future they sought advice and were sometimes influenced by the support
networks around them. The key point about these two types of capital is that
in drawing on these resources, two strategies emerged:
‘Inside’ support networks – the family unit as a source of higher
educational and aspirational capital
Where the parents, sibling(s) or close family member had attended university it was those members of the family that the boys turned to when they
wanted to talk about their future plans or if they wanted to glean more information about the university system, how it worked and other practicalities
of going to university.
K – Yeah my brother’s at university right now
SF – Where do you think you’ve got your ideas about university from?..
K – Well, sort of from him…
SF – Have your parents been to university or…
14
I. Law et al.
K– Yeah my mum did…
SF – Who would you generally talk to about going to university, or college…
K – My, my mum, she’s the one I talk to about stuff like that
SF –What, well, how does she feel about it? What would she say to you?
K – Well, she wants me to do summat like science or summat, to be a Doctor
of Medicine, summat like that…
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
SF – Who would you, like, generally talk to about it [university]?
K – Well, if it’s about uni, I talk to my brother about it, cos obviously, he
goes there and he knows what it’s like
From these short extracts, it is clear to see that there is an abundance of educational capital within the family unit for Kudzi to draw upon and this was typical of those that adopted the strategy of looking to ‘insider’ support networks
for decisions and advice on the education system. The parents within this
group also tended to have professional jobs and could be categorised more
towards black middle class parents. The educational strategies adopted by
these parents, also went some way to influence the actions of the boys. The
parents were incredibly involved in the boys’ educational decisions and had a
heavy influence on their future plans, and as a source of aspirational capital
for the boys they also had incredibly high expectations of them for the future.
K – I’m doing IT, Business, Economics and Maths
SF – Yeah
K – She [mother] wants me to, like, put Science in there, but I’m like, Science doesn’t really go with any of them and I don’t really wanna do it
SF – Yeah. So is she, do you think she’s gonna accept it that you’re not gonna do…
K – She’s accepted it already, I think, I’m sure. She’s not, before she used to
bring it up all the time saying, ‘Oh why can’t you do Science?’ and all that….
SF – Where did you get that idea [university] from then?
Luke – Because I want to be in engineering and my dad said I have to go, I
have to go to university to get more qualifications
The excerpt above with Luke and Kudzi captures the essence of the parental
strategies within this group, as the parents tended to have very strong ideas
Race Ethnicity and Education
15
about their boy’s future and wanted them to be successful in life and
achieve. Although it could be argued that some of the parents could be
regarded as being quite ‘pushy’ and regulatory it was also apparent that they
had an incredibly influential role in the boy’s lives and a lot of their future
decisions emanated from their parents. Most of the boys that fell into this
category spoke about their parents as being an inspiration in their lives and
wanted to be like them when they grew older.
SF – So where do you think you’ve got your main ideas [future plans] from
then about that?
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Z – My dad, cos he’s got his own business
SF – Does he talk to you about things like that then in the future?
Z – Yeah
SF – What does he say to you?
Z – He just says, er, it’s kind of…because when trying to mange your own
business, like trusting your own employees, and everything is important
Zach then went on to talk about his father bringing him overseas to his businesses to see where he works and that he regularly talks to him about owning his own business. Kudzi’s father also owns his own business and he
spoke about wanting to emulate his father’s success in business and that he
has mainly acquired most of his ideas for the future from his father. Furthermore, through the surveys, when asking the boys in this group about parental involvement in their school work it was apparent that for all of the boys
in this group their parents took on a monitoring role when it came to homework. With the majority knowing what homework the boys have from
school and also taking an avid interest in how they were doing in school.
It can therefore be seen that as well as the boys making the decision to
go to their parents or family member for advice on their future aspirations
and key educational decisions, these parents also took on a proactive role in
their boy’s education and were actively involved in the decisions that they
made for the future. The actions were reciprocal and the parents were more
than happy for the boys to use their resources to help them.
‘Outside’ support networks – external institutions as a source of higher
educational and aspirational capital
Where there was no evidence of parents or close family members having
attended university the boys within this category seemed to reach out to outside sources and interventions in order to get advice and support about their
16
I. Law et al.
future decisions. Not having a family member that had the ‘lived’
experience of attending HE seemed to have a profound effect on the boy’s
decisions for the future, with many uncertain about their decisions for
the future, with these only being re-enforced after a related activity or
intervention.
SF – I mean, er, like, did you, would you have thought about going to university before you went to the summer school, or…?
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
ZZ – Yeah, but I didn’t know, er, how it would be like, er, about what I
would be doing, er how many hours I would be doing yeah. So now I have a
clue about it
JH – Made me want to go to uni more, like
The UJIMA summer school, that I recruited the sample from, seemed to
have more of an impact on the boys from within this group and on their
future decisions about higher education. The boys spoke of the summer
school enlightening them on what university was really about and eradicating all the myths and illusions that they had about university before, with
Krispin noting that all he thought university was about was ‘loads and loads
of debt and drinking, and no work.’ However, the summer school showed
him that this was not the case. The parents of the boys within this group
tended to have lower skilled manual jobs and seemed to adopt a different
parental strategy when it came to their boy’s education, than that of the former group. Many of the boys spoke about their parents not really knowing
what they wanted to do in the future and not going to them for advice when
making decisions about what they wanted to do in the future.
I – …Did your parents go to university, or…?
R – Don’t, don’t.… No, no, no, no, don’t think they did
I – …How do they feel about it? [university]
R – I don’t really know. I don’t talk to ‘em about it
SF - …So in terms of the future, who do you talk to about your future would
you say?
Michael – Erm, I don’t really talk to anyone, probably Maureen
SF – Maureen?
Michael – Yeah my JWF group leader, cos she’s always asking and doing
future plans and everything
Race Ethnicity and Education
17
SF – …So where did you get these ideas from about going to university,
who?
Michael – JWF
SF – JWF? What’s that?
Michael – Junior Windsor Fellowship
SF – Okay when did you do that then?
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Michael – Started in year ten
SF – What do you do on that then
Michael – Erm, like extra revision and just learning about the country and
stuff.
It is demonstrated from the interview excerpts above that the boys within
this category have adopted a strategy of turning to those that would be best
informed to advise them on educational decisions about the future, even if
this meant looking outside of the family unit. All the boys in this category
did not turn to their parents when thinking about the future and what their
educational strategy would be, similarly the parents did not seem to have a
pervading influence over the boy’s decisions about the future and did not
seem to be involved in their educational decisions. This was dissimilar to
the parents in the former category who took on a much more pro active role
in their boy’s education. There was also a pattern of the parents within this
category not knowing how their boys were doing in school or what they
were bringing home for homework, with some boys stating that their parents
never knew what they had for homework. However, this is not to suggest
that the parents in this group did not care about their child’s education or
that they were somewhat aloof about it, they just adopted different educational strategies. There was evidence to suggest that they were incredibly
supportive and were a good source of aspirational capital and did show an
interest. However when it came to giving advice on which universities to go
to not having a lived experience of the current educational system or how to
manoeuvre themselves around these institutions, with many of the parents
being migrants, meant that they did not have the capacity to give practical,
and informed advice and guidance on these topics. They seemed to support
the boys through giving emotional support, with the matriarch usually heading up the family and taking on a motherly role by ‘looking after’ the boys.
All of the boys cited this as being an incredibly important aspect of family
life, with them all sating that their mother was the most important person in
their family.
18
I. Law et al.
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
We have therefore seen a different tactic deployed by boys who did not
have the higher educational resources of capital within his family unit; they
simply sought these resources from elsewhere. Similarly, as in the former
group of boys, the parents seemed to reciprocate the actions of their boys
by not getting too involved in their educational decisions. This seemed to
be due to the fact that the boys and the parents recognised that they did not
have the capacity to give informed advice about their educational strategies
in higher education institutions. This is not to suggest that the parents did
not get involved in their boy’s education in different ways or that they did
not care, furthermore without having spoken to the parents it is impossible
to ascertain their full view and feelings towards their child’s educational
strategies.
Perceptions of race as a barrier to ‘getting ahead’
Much of the literature and academic discourse eludes to the fact that institutional racism and structural constraints are a contributory factor in black
boy’s lower levels of attainment and stagnant social mobility and low
social class status (Platt 2005), with some going as far to say that in Britain, ethnicity or race are greater indicators of educational achievement as
opposed to gender or social class (Wright et al. 2010). However, this does
not seem to be recognised by the boys as a barrier to them succeeding in
what they have chosen to do. There was absolutely no fixation on racism
as being a barrier or a problem, even with those that had experienced racism first hand.
Race, however, was an important part of their lives for reasons pertaining
to cultural heritage and a grounded sense of self; with the majority of the
sample wanting to identify part of themselves as either black African or
black Caribbean, dependent upon their parents’ heritage.
J – Cos I’ve, cos I say it’s my mum and dad’s blood and I was just born here,
just coincidence.
With reference to the earlier point, instead of looking to ‘structural barriers’
and agencies, the boys took a very individualist point of view whereby
100% of the boys mentioned ‘hard work’ as a precursor to doing well.
There seemed to be no consideration of outside influences that could act as
barriers, but that it was solely down to themselves in ascertaining whether
they achieved or not.
J – Well, if I just work hard and stick at it then, yeah, things will hopefully,
things will be alright
I – So how likely do you think it is that you would achieve these goals?
Race Ethnicity and Education
19
J – Likely
I – Very likely?
J – …I could do if I really work hard
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
P – I mean hard work though
The ideology and rhetoric of the boys highly focused self-reliance may also
signify a cultural theme which is reinforced through peers and family members. It also denotes a strong sense of resilience and that by not relying on
anybody else there is not the risk of being let down or exposed to racist
institutions.
Smaller themes that came to the fore were that all the boys mentioned
the current economic crisis as something that they should be aware of. With
some of them feeling a slight anxiety as to how this might affect them in
the future. An informal chat with one of the boys, that took place after the
interviews, revealed that he had taken extensive action to avoid the perceived effects of the recession and changed his future educational plans
accordingly opting to follow a different pathway through higher education.
With a growing corpus of evidence signifying that racial inequities still
continue to scar the English educational system with school teachers cited
as one of the perpetuators of this, there was evidence of this emerging as
one of the smaller themes. Many of the boys felt that the teachers either
‘did not like them’ or judged them too quickly by falsely accusing them of
being a ‘trouble causer.’ Some of the boys were also unhappy with the way
the teachers taught them and thought that they were not teaching as well as
they could, with little continuity in teaching style. Some teachers were
accused of not being interested in teaching the boys properly whereas others
were seen to be incredibly helpful and supportive.
P – …Like sometimes there are teachers that hardly do anything for you.
Sometimes they do. And some of them help you, sometimes just leave you.
So you have to do everything by yourself…like my maths teacher, she, she, I
don’t think she likes me.
It was found that these young men had developed a strong resilience with
high aspirations for the future, with their focus on future goals seeming to
be the driving factor. Even in the face of overt racism and unequal access to
the schooling system, this was not entertained as an excuse for low attainment. With the boys placing a firm focus on their own autonomy and ability
to take control of their own destiny, through the belief that if they solely
worked hard then they would achieve. A resource of ‘aspirational’ and
‘higher educational’ capital also seemed to be drawn on from family and
outside ‘aspiration raising’ initiatives, different strategies were engineered in
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
20
I. Law et al.
order to access and make use of these forms of capital. In line with Yosso’s
arguments, it could be argued that this type of strategy is specific to
‘Communities of Color’ and has been developed in order to cope with the
experiences of racialisation. However, what is explicit is that even within a
context that should dictate that these boys should not attain in education and
career choice, they are in fact bucking the trend, with all boys having
achieved 5 A⁄–C grades at GCSE2 (a widespread indicator of success in
educational attainment) and having successfully completed their first year of
college or sixth form.3 A common factor amongst all was a firm belief in
themselves and their future goals which I believe has been a contributory
factor in driving them to partway succeed in their journey towards university
and a skilled professional career. This group of young men possessed strong
and high aspirations for their education and career trajectories.
Conclusion
The driving search for personal autonomy and agency on the part of young
black men is the central theme of this article, which can and does, for many,
manifest itself in levels of strong educational and career aspirations which
are no different from other groups of young people. This has been illustrated
with evidence from two empirical studies using a range of methodologies in
two urban locations in Northern England. The high, grounded sense of aspiration for the future, illustrated in the second case study, underlines a shifting focus in recent research on young black learners and the routes to
educational success (Rhamie 2007; Byfield 2008; Sewell 2009). However,
roughly a quarter of young black men, and young white and Asian men, in
the three schools identified in the first case study did not see the importance
of or value educational opportunities and had very low aspirations in this
regard. There is then no simple connection to be derived from examining
race, ethnicity and aspirations and any attempt to generalise for these groups
is highly likely to create new stereotypes or rework and strengthen old ones.
Market and material contexts together with deteriorating policy environments are strengthening the structural constraints on young black men in the
UK, evident in rising levels of child poverty (Law and Swann 2011). Therefore the creative strategies identified here in drawing on forms of social capital and other networks and resources to reinforce, cultivate and reaffirm
aspirations and hopes will be of critical importance in determining the future
outcomes for black men.
Notes
1. Pseudonyms will be used throughout the dialogue.
2. Summer 2009.
3. Summer 2010.
Race Ethnicity and Education
21
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
References
Butler, T., and C. Hamnett. 2011. Ethnicity, class and aspiration: Understanding
London’s East End. Bristol: Policy Press.
Byfield, C. 2008. Black boys can make it: How they overcome obstacles to university in the UK and USA. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
Cameron, D. 2011. Speech on radicalisation and Islamic extremism, Munich. Full
transcript. New Statesman, 5 February. Available at: http://www.newstatesman.
com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/02/terrorism-islam-ideology.
Donnor, J. K., and A. L. Brown. 2011. The education of black males in a ‘postracial’ world. Race Ethnicity and Education 14, no. 1: 1–5.
EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission). 2010. How fair is Britain? The
first triennial review. London: EHRC.
Epstein, D., J. Elwood, V. Hey, and J. Maw, eds. 1998. Failing boys? Issues in gender and achievement. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Frosh, S., A. Phoenix, and R. Pattman. 2003. The trouble with boys. The Psychologist 16, no. 2: 84–7.
Gillborn, D. 2008. Racism and education: Coincidence or conspiracy. London:
Routledge.
Gillborn, D., and N. Rollock. 2010. Education. In Race and ethnicity in the 21st
century, ed. A. Bloch and J. Solomos, 176–97. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Goodman, A., and P. Gregg. 2010. Poorer children’s educational attainment: How
important are attitudes and behaviour? Joseph Rowntree. Available at: http://
www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/poorer-children-education-full.pdf.
Hirsch, D. 2007. Experiences of poverty and educational disadvantage. Joseph
Rowntree. Available at: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/Joseph%20Rowntree
%20Foundation%20-%20Experiences%20of%20poverty%20and%20educational
%20disadvantage.pdf.
John, G. 2008. Quoted in ‘the silent majority’. Media Guardian, 25 August 2008: 4.
Law, I. 2002. Race in the news. London: Palgrave.
Law, I., and S. Swann. 2011. Ethnicity and education in England and Europe:
Gangstas, geeks and gorjas. Farnham: Ashgate.
Lentin, A., and G. Titley. 2011. The crises of multiculturalism: Racism in a neoliberal age. London: Zed Press.
Mac an Ghaill, M. 1994. The making of men: Masculinities, sexualities and schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Markus, H., and P. Nurius. 1986. Possible selves. American Psychologist 41, no. 9:
954–69.
Platt, L. 2005. Migration and social mobility: The life chances of Britain’s minority
ethnic communities. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Reynolds, T. 2009. Exploring the absent/present dilemma: Black fathers, family
relationships and social capital in Britain. Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science. 624, no. 1: 12–28.
Rhamie, J. 2007. Eagles who soar: How black learners find the path to success.
Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
Sewell, T. 1997. Black masculinities and schooling: How black boys survive modern schooling. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
Sewell, T. 2009. Generating genius: Black boys in search of love, ritual and
schooling. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
Solorzano, D.G. 1992. An exploratory analysis of the effects of race, class, and
gender on student and parent mobility aspirations. The Journal of Negro Education 61, no. 1: 30–44.
22
I. Law et al.
Downloaded by [University of Leeds] at 11:26 24 September 2012
Stevenson, J., and S. Clegg. 2010. Possible selves: Students orientating themselves
towards the future through extracurricular activity. British Educational Research
Journal 3, no. 2: 1–16.
Sveinsson, K. 2008. A tale of two Englands: Race and violent crime in the media.
London: Runnymede Trust.
Tomlinson, S. 2008. Race and education: Policy and politics in Britain. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill.
Wright, C., P. Standen, and T. Patel. 2010. Black youth matters: Transitions from
school to success. London: Routledge.
Yosso, T.J. 2005. Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of
community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education 8, no. 1: 69–91.