STRANGERS IN PARADISE: THE CASE OF WORKING-CLASS STUDENTS IN ELITE UNIVERSITIES OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

This research paper discusses working-class students’ experiences in the elite universities of Pakistan. The main objective of the research was to examine the inclusion and exclusion strategies of elite universities for working-class students. The research was guided by a qualitative research design. The locale of the study consisted of four elite universities (two from Islamabad-the federal capital of Pakistan- and two from Lahore- the provincial capital of Punjab province of Pakistan). Sixty-four respondents (working-class students) were included in the study through a consecutive sampling technique. The data for the study come from in-depth qualitative interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Theoretically, the study is informed by Pierre Bourdieu’s, Basil Bernstein’s, and Jerome Karabel’s work. The results of the study showed that working-class students had relatively diverse kinds of experiences in the elite universities of Pakistan. It was found that working-class students were facing symbolic violence in the universities through various explicit and implicit ways. They were segregated through different structural procedures of the elite universities such as fees and other related expenses.The study concludes that working-class students were experiencing inside and outside classroom differential treatment. The social class background was an important factor that was playing a key role for some to be considered as special and others as non-special individuals in educational institutions where the respondents were studying. The study suggests that elitism in the education system of Pakistan must be discouraged to have assimilated kind of environment in the Pakistani education system.