This paper is based on in-depth interviews carried out with students in their first and final years of undergraduate study. The paper examines how students approached career decision-making and the rationale underpinning the approach they adopted. The research found that students were not utilising the type of rational approaches to career…

This article is based on an action research project that involved working with undergraduates to improve the way they engage in the process of career decision-making. The article focuses on the role networks play in career decision-making. It analyses the students' rationale for utilising particular forms of social capital and examines how they…

The evidence suggests that working-class students are disadvantaged in the graduate labour market. This article focuses on the extent to which students from working-class backgrounds are disadvantaged in the career decision-making process because of their lack of social capital. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 30 final-year…

This paper examines the role of culture in the development of higher education institution (HEI) policy on widening participation. The study involved documentary research and interviews with senior and middle managers. It suggests that a culture of widening participation is often not embedded throughout institutions. Therefore, widening…

This article examines the factors influencing the development of widening participation policy in 16 higher education institutions (HEIs). It utilises documentary research, followed by interviews with key policy makers in three of the institutions: an "old" university, a "new" university and a college of higher education. The paper demonstrates…