Who enjoys access to which university, and the experiences of graduates from different institutions remain central to questions of social justice, notably higher education's contribution to social mobility and to the reproduction of social inequality. This collection explores these issues in a range of specific contexts, and is theoretically and methodologically innovative. The relationship between higher education and social mobility has probably never been under closer scrutiny and this volume will appeal to academics, policy makers and commentators alike. Higher Education and Social Inequalities is an important contribution to the public and academic debate.

Introduction: setting the scene Part I: Getting in: higher education access and participation 1. Admissions, adaptations, and anxieties: social class inside and outside the elite university 2. Struggling for selfhood: Non-traditional mature students' critical perspectives on access to higher education courses in England 3. How meritocratic is admission to highly selective UK universities? 4. Patterns of participation in a period of change: social trends in English higher education from 2000 to 2016 Part II: Getting on: classed experiences of higher education 5. A tale of two universities: class work in the field of higher education 6. How to win at being a student 7. Social class, ethnicity and the process of 'Fitting in' 8. The 'Jack Wills Brigade': brands, embodiment, and class identities in higher education Part III: Getting out: social class and graduate destinations 9. Higher education and the myths of graduate employability 10. A glass half full? Social class and access to postgraduate study 11. Participation in paid and unpaid internships among creative and communications graduates: does class advantage play a part? 12. Gendered and classed graduate transitions to work: how the unequal playing field is constructed, maintained, and experienced Conclusion: social class, participation, and the marketised university