Rodríguez Anaiz, Paulina Carolina; (2023) Segregated Inclusion: An Intersectional analysis of Working-Class Women’s Experiences at an Elite University. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text PhD thesis _Paulina Rodriguez Anaiz.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 May 2026. Download (1MB)

Abstract

This thesis examines dynamics of inclusion and inequality at an elite university by focussing on the experiences of young women from intermediate- and working-class backgrounds enrolled in the most prestigious degree programmes in Chile. This institution has sought to address the severe lack of class diversity in its student body by adopting widening participation policies. Against this backdrop, this thesis addresses the under-explored area of what it means for non-elite students to ‘get in’, ‘get through’, and ‘get out’ of an elite university. Drawing on a qualitative study, this thesis documents the effects of intersecting social inequalities on the university experiences and professional aspirations of young working-class women and draws comparisons between the women’s experiences and the views and practices of elite students. In particular, the thesis unpacks how students’ prior capital endowments as well as gender and ethnoracial dynamics shape their experiences and ability to navigate the institution. Hence, as well as offering insights into the dynamics of inclusion/exclusion in elite settings, this thesis suggests the addition of gender and race/ethnicity to the study of social class, in a manner that has been unusual in Chilean literature. The findings reveal that the inclusion of these young women is characterised by what I refer to as segregated inclusion; a form of inclusion in which students circulate in separate and stratified spaces and maintain distinct social relations, despite being in the same physical place as elite students. A closer look at the process of ‘getting in’ to the university, including the role of admissions policies, reveals that working-class students are categorised in ways that mark them as ‘different’, re/producing a subordinate relationship with their upper-class peers. In ‘getting through’, the young women traverse an institution where worth is premised on classed, gendered and racialised conceptions, undermining their educational experience. In addition, the symbolic boundaries drawn by students, delimiting their own and others’ sense of place, contribute to the stratification of social relations within the university. Finally, in ‘getting out’ into the workforce, this thesis examines inclusions, exclusions and self-exclusions in relation to elite occupations and how these are enabled and/or constrained by students’ social position, gender and ethnoracial dynamics, leading to a segregated transition into the labour market. Thus, the research identifies a range of cultural processes through which the construction and reproduction of social differences and hierarchies takes place, challenging ideas that access to elite universities equates to inclusion and equality. Instead, inclusion and the persistence of privilege exist side by side.

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