‘Risky Business?’
Since incorporation, the economic value of students to colleges has seen the language of 'risk' and 'drop-out' permeate the further education sector, placing retention and achievement high up on the agenda, with what appears to be little consideration for the consequences this m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Liverpool John Moores University
2018-12-01
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| Series: | PRISM |
| Online Access: | https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/290 |
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| _version_ | 1832557703165116416 |
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| author | Christina Donovan |
| author_facet | Christina Donovan |
| author_sort | Christina Donovan |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Since incorporation, the economic value of students to colleges has seen the language of 'risk' and 'drop-out' permeate the further education sector, placing retention and achievement high up on the agenda, with what appears to be little consideration for the consequences this might have for the students the terms describe. This study provides a detailed exploration of the conflicting accounts of the term ‘risk’ from the perspectives of tutors, support staff and managers within a further education college and the implications for their practice with students who are identified as ‘at risk’. The findings suggest that perceived risk is strongly associated with behaviours which make the student ‘vulnerable’, which could adversely affect students from so-called ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds. Therefore, this paper makes the case that the notion of risk could disproportionately impact upon students who are marginalised for a variety of reasons. This could lead to practices which actively exclude students who are perceived to be ‘vulnerable’, and therefore of less value to an institution operating within a neoliberal marketplace.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-60f736e90df648d99f32adb2cce80860 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2514-5347 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Liverpool John Moores University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PRISM |
| spelling | doaj-art-60f736e90df648d99f32adb2cce808602025-02-03T03:18:14ZengLiverpool John Moores UniversityPRISM2514-53472018-12-0121‘Risky Business?’Christina Donovan0Edge Hill University Since incorporation, the economic value of students to colleges has seen the language of 'risk' and 'drop-out' permeate the further education sector, placing retention and achievement high up on the agenda, with what appears to be little consideration for the consequences this might have for the students the terms describe. This study provides a detailed exploration of the conflicting accounts of the term ‘risk’ from the perspectives of tutors, support staff and managers within a further education college and the implications for their practice with students who are identified as ‘at risk’. The findings suggest that perceived risk is strongly associated with behaviours which make the student ‘vulnerable’, which could adversely affect students from so-called ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds. Therefore, this paper makes the case that the notion of risk could disproportionately impact upon students who are marginalised for a variety of reasons. This could lead to practices which actively exclude students who are perceived to be ‘vulnerable’, and therefore of less value to an institution operating within a neoliberal marketplace. https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/290 |
| spellingShingle | Christina Donovan ‘Risky Business?’ PRISM |
| title | ‘Risky Business?’ |
| title_full | ‘Risky Business?’ |
| title_fullStr | ‘Risky Business?’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Risky Business?’ |
| title_short | ‘Risky Business?’ |
| title_sort | risky business |
| url | https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/290 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christinadonovan riskybusiness |