The Forms of Capital and Intergenerational Change in Higher Education Access: A Case Study of Aranguez

The study explores higher education access in a marginalised community within a post-colonial context, specifically, why access was low given supportive government policies. The case study of Aranguez, a former sugar-cane plantation in Trinidad, involved interviews with descendants of East Indian indentured labourers of all ages, which allowed insight into intergenerational changes in education and impacts of policy shifts. The conceptual framework combined Bordieuan analytical concepts of social and cultural capital and postcolonial theory to analyse the data. Findings show a critical role for the mother and extended family (kin and non-kin) in first generation students' transitions to higher education. History, economics, and politics shape education policy formation and enactment from colonial to the post-colonial context, which provide new insights for critical education policy research. First, it expands our understanding of how intersections of race, class, religion, and geographical location operate as axes of marginalisation and discrimination resulting in inequitable access to education. Second, findings demonstrate how colonial legacies persist in education policy and the education system, operating to reproduce social inequality. In addition, a culture of violence lingers in the community along with intergenerational trauma, which have negative implications for educational access and life trajectories. The research challenges the global discourse to expand higher education in developing countries, as community members prefer informal training and and self-employment without formal higher education credentials. Findings demonstrate a need for education policy fit for the local context, addressing issues such as outreach and engagement of families; recognition of informal training; legacies of post-colonial trauma; brain drain; and the need for decolonisation of education.

Keywords: higher education access, social capital, cultural capital, post-colonial, Bourdieu, indentured labourer, intergenerational trauma, education policy