Taking Bourdieu to the Next Level: Extending the Concept of Capital to Postsecondary Institutions

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Reexamining the Role of Higher Education in a Global Society

Abstract

This paper presents an organizational-level framework utilizing Bourdieu’s (1986) concept of capital to help understand the postsecondary environment. We transpose what is typically utilized (in the study of higher education) as a student-level conceptual/theoretical framework and place it within the realm of higher education institutions. Colleges and universities are rarely thought of as living, breathing entities. They are often seen as static and difficult to change. What we argue is that institutions do indeed have the capacity (and responsibility) to change and address the needs of its students. The various forms of capital are presented conceptually followed by specific examples of their enactment within postsecondary institutions. A discussion on the reproduction of societal inequity within higher education concludes the paper.

Authors

• Lucy Arellano, Oregon State University

• Patricia M. McDonough, University of California - Los Angeles