Student Lives in Crisis : Deepening Inequality in Times of Austerity

With rising levels of student debt and precarity, young people’s lives in university are not always smooth. Lorenza Antonucci has travelled across England, Italy and Sweden to understand how inequality is reproduced through university. This book provides a compelling narrative of what it means to be in university in Europe in the 21st century, not only in terms of education, but also in terms of finances, housing and well-being. Furthermore, this book shows how inequality is reproduced during university by how young people from different social classes combine family, state and labour market sources. The book identifies different profiles of young people’s experiences in university, from ‘Struggling and hopeless’ to ‘Having a great time’. Furthermore, the book discusses how the ‘welfare mixes’ present in the three countries determine different types of semi-dependence, and reinforce inequalities. The book identifies a general trend of privatisation of student support in higher education, which pushes young people to participate in the labour market and over-rely on family resources in order to sustain their participation in university. Not only does this protract young people’s semi-dependence, but it also increases inequality among different groups of young people. In addition to the current policy focus on access to higher education, and transitions to the labour market, the book calls for a greater attention on the policies that can change young people’s lives while in university. STUDENT LIVES IN CRISIS Contents List of tables and figures List of acronyms Note on author Preface: A post-Brexit preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Young people’s lives at university in crisis Student lives in crisis and the context of austerity The research Myth busting: looking at real-life experiences Structure of the book Part 1: University for all? How higher education shapes inequality among young people 1. Social consequences of mass access in Europe Paradox of higher education policies: democratisation through inequality Features of European higher education policies: the focus on access and destination Students as young adults in a protracted phase of semi‐dependence Beyond access and destination: how young people live in university Conclusion 2. How welfare influences the lives of young people in university Comparing ‘welfare mixes’ in England, Italy and Sweden Has austerity affected the welfare systems for young people in university? Conclusion 3. Beyond differences? Determinants of inequality among European young people in university Inequality and welfare state intervention How relying on the family can increase inequality How working during university can increase inequality Conclusion Part 2: Exploring the inequality of university lives in England, Italy and Sweden 4. Investigating young people’s semi‐dependence during university Researching young people in university Life in university as protracted semi-dependence Conclusion 5. The different profiles of young people’s experiences in university Profile 1: Struggling and hopeless Profile 2: Facing difficulties, but with hope for the future Profile 3: Seeing university as a positive, but temporary, period Profile 4: Feeling good in the present, worried about the future Profile 5: Having a great time Conclusion 6. Explaining inequality: the role of social origins and welfare sources ‘Struggling and hopeless’: young people without family support and working in precarious jobs ‘Facing difficulties, but with hope for the future’: young people in search of additional resources ‘A positive, but temporary, period’: students that benefited from state support ‘Feeling good in the present, worried about the future’: young people with (temporary) family support ‘Having a great time’: young people with abundant family sources and no need to work Conclusion: explaining inequality with social class and cross-national differences Part 3: The ‘eternal transition’: young adults and semi-dependence in university 7. The family: saviour or ‘inequaliser’? Use of family sources by the different profiles Family and semi-dependence Conclusion 8. The labour market contradiction: a precarious form of dependence How labour market participation changes across the profiles Why university students have different experiences of precarity Conclusion 9 State: generous, conditional or absent? State sources and profiles Dependence on the state: grants and loans Effects of state support on young people’s dependence Emerging adulthood or ‘eternal semi-dependence’: the role of welfare states Conclusion Conclusion: Addressing growing inequality among young people in university Two messages University was never for everybody? Social investment or addressing inequalities? European problems and national solutions? Inequalities and ‘Generation Y’ Capturing the zeitgeist to change the terms of the debate Notes Annex Combining Q-methodology and in-depth interviews Methodological procedure Index The greatest social change in Europe during the last twenty years is that almost half of Europe's young people now attend college. Yet despite these unprecedented levels of university attendance, the lived experiences of students remain largely undocumented. Focusing on the effects of the financial crisis and austerity, this empirically grounded analysis compares the lives of university students from three very different European welfare systems: Italy, England, and Sweden. By contrasting access to welfare support--in connection with the role of families, the state, and the labor market postgraduation--Student Lives in Crisis exposes the students' often overlooked social realities, as well as the impact of their shared experience of financial uncertainty. Drawing on questionnaires and first person interviews, Lorenza Antonucci reveals the misconceptions behind many higher education policies in Europe, demonstrating that university participation exacerbates rather than ameliorates inequalities among young people from different social backgrounds In the greatest social change of the last twenty years about half of Europe’s young people now attend university. Their lived experiences are however largely undocumented. Antonucci travelled across six cities and three European countries – England, Italy and Sweden – to provide the first ever comparison of the lives of university students across countries and socio-economic backgrounds. Contrasting students’ resources and backgrounds, this original work exposes the profound social effects of austerity and the financial crisis on young people. Questionnaires and first person interviews reveal that, in contrast with what assumed by HE policies, participating in university exacerbates inequalities among young people. This work is a wake-up call for re-thinking the role of higher education in relation to social justice in European societies. The greatest social change in Europe during the last 20 years is that almost half of Europe's young people now attend college. Yet despite these unprecedented levels of university attendance, the lived experiences of students remain largely undocumented. Focusing on the effects of the financial crisis and austerity, this empirically grounded analysis compares the lives of university students from three very different European welfare systems: Italy, England, and Sweden In this empirically-grounded analysis, Lorenza Antonucci compares the lives of university students at a time of austerity and financial crisis from three very different European welfare systems - Italy, England and Sweden