How do Britain’s private schools reproduce privilege?
Speakers
It is no secret that the alumni of Britain’s elite schools remain disproportionately represented in positions of power and influence. But what is it about these institutions that gives their students such a lasting advantage? This event marks the launch of An Elite Education: How Privilege is Produced in a Private School by Emma Taylor.
Drawing on an in-depth ethnography of one of Britain’s most prestigious private schools, Taylor explores how these institutions cultivate the dispositions that propel students into elite universities and professions. Central to the book is the concept of audacity, a carefully nurtured sense of privilege that is often mistaken for merit. Beneath the formal façade of architecture, traditions and rituals lies a complex web of everyday interactions through which students learn to assert themselves without fear of consequence. Bringing together a panel of key scholars and activists in the field, this event will examine how such taken-for-granted dispositions continue to shape access to opportunity and the reproduction of privilege in Britain.
Meet our speakers and chair
Tiwa Adebayo is an experienced journalist, broadcaster and former financial services professional, she currently works at Bloomberg News. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Tiwa worked extensively as a freelance journalist writing articles for publications including British Vogue and The Independent. A key area of focus for Tiwa is education. In 2020, her widely publicised open letter about racism in the UK private school system led to an advisory relationship with the Department for Education.
Annette Lareau is the author of the award-winning books Unequal Childhoods, Home Advantage, and Listening to People. With Blair Sackett, she authored We Thought It Would be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America. She is writing a book, to be published with University of California Press, on the impact of wealth on family life. She is Professor (emeritus) in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Annette Lareau is a Past President of the American Sociological Association.
Lee Elliot Major is Britain’s first Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, and an Associate at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance. He advises education, government and business leaders, and was formerly CEO of the Sutton Trust. His award-winning books include Social Mobility and Its Enemies, and Equity in Education. His forthcoming book, Cracking the Class Code, examines barriers to opportunity in elite workplaces. He was awarded an OBE for services to social mobility.
Emma Taylor is a Lecturer in Education at King’s College London. She was previously an LSE Fellow in Interdisciplinary Social Science and a Leverhulme Doctoral Scholar in the Department of Sociology, supported by the International Inequalities Institute. Prior to her academic career, she spent 15 years teaching in secondary schools, an experience that continues to inform her research. Her work has been published in leading journals including the British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Mike Savage is Professorial Research Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute. Mike has long standing interests in analysing social stratification and inequality. He has played a major role in the revival of the sociology of social class in recent decades so that it has become once more a central plank of the discipline.
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The International Inequalities Institute at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.
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