Paper short abstract

This presentation explores the potential for "contextual admissions" in recruiting a more diverse community of UK anthropology undergraduates and postgraduates in the UK, and the challenge of defining "context".

Paper long abstract

Working for a more diverse anthropology is a pedagogic and institutional challenge. Rethinking the curriculum may be the easy part. Much harder will be reforming the hardening status hierarchies within UK higher education, reinforced by current admission procedures based on A level grades and predictions. The best-resourced schools and parents ensure their students successfully navigate this system through individualised pedagogies of aspiration.

Student number growth at Russell Group universities (50% increase in anthropology students in 5 years) increases middle-class participation and makes fairer access to the discipline more of challenge. Working-class and ethnicity-minority students remain firmly disadvantaged in competing for places at 'elite' universities. These inequalities also shape access to postgraduate education. The growing policy call for 'contextual admissions' to redress these inequalities requires thought around the definition, deployment and measurement of "context".