Pierre Bourdieu and non-habitual decisions

2016

Contextualization Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) developed his concept of decision-making from the context of reflexive and repetitive choices affecting the daily lives of people. This concept was grounded in ethnographic research of French and Algerian society and the individual experiential and group culture of these societies. As Bourdieu's interest was the daily lives and routines of these peoples, his theory of decision-making involved the ideas of habitus, capital and field resulting in specific and immediate practices. By nature, these decisions are habitual rather than considered and deterministic which are reflective of a complexity of thought for the resulting practice. The individual determination of a non-immediate decision to withdraw from doctoral research programs is the focus of this paper. Such withdrawal decisions can be emotional for the student and have an effect on the doctoral programs of universities that can result in the loss of student, university and soci...

2015

This research study explores the influence of dispositions as sociological features of doctoral student dropout as experienced by a group of participants from different Australian universities. To elucidate these influences the research poses the two questions of what are the influences on students’ decisions to drop out and how is this experienced by the student? Using an analysis of these personal experiences the study suggests a range of outcomes which illuminate the experience of dropout (and dropping out) through a Bourdieusian decision-making lens. These outcomes are the basis of the research conclusions regarding possible approaches to reducing the incidence of doctoral student non-completion. In addition, suggestions for further research into specific aspects of the dropout and dropping out phenomenon are developed. Dropout research has historically been focussed on various ‘risk factors’ attributed to students and tertiary institutions. These factors focus on the effects of...

Journal of Business and Management Research, 2023

Students' decision making is a dynamic and complex process. A number of quantitative studies have identified the elements that play their role in this process, particularly in the contexts of the developed regions. However, in the developing countries, especially in the countries of South-Asian region where collectivist societies exist, such studies occur in a very negligible number. To fill this gap, the present study explored the elements that are perceived to affect undergraduate and graduate students' decision making on academic as well as non-academic contexts. Given that today's students are tomorrow's leaders, understanding their decision making may contribute in anticipating the nature of decisions they would make in the future. To understand this phenomenon, interpretive phenomenological analysis was used. The study found two major themespersonal elements, and external elements. The discussion on these themes and their sub-themes highlight that students make decisions centered on consequences such as loss of position and prestige, fear of individual punishments. Students decision making were also found to reiterate the theory of utilitarianism and relative truth theory.

Higher Education Quarterly, 1999

This paper examines the decision-making behaviour adopted by candidates hoping to gain entry into Higher Education. Whether or not the potential students operate a systematic process, thinking logically throughout each step and choosing the alternative with the most favourable ranking, is worthy of discussion. Secondary research confirms the many variables influencing this process, particularly within the USA. However, in-depth knowledge concerning the criteria that British students employ and their thoughts regarding decision-making is limited. Hence an exploratory study incorporating Sixth Form pupils of a High School in the NW of England and students from across the UK attending an open-day at a university also in the NW was undertaken. Results indicate that applicants do follow the sequential stages from 'problem recognition' to 'evaluation of alternatives' using parents' as well as teachers' advice throughout, although there seems to be a gap in the information needs of potential students, which many universities are not currently satisfying.

This article’s aim is to identify which factors influence the decision-making process of undergraduate students in social sciences. The data will be sorted in five categories: direct, indirect, background, personal and external factors. Each factor may act in different ways depending on the context it has been found in. Also three attributes are added to the equation depending on the factor’s ability to limit other factors and to be perceived or unperceived, or are hidden from the individual.Also, another purpose of this article is to purpose a new model for studying students choice in which the factors are treated as being volatile, acting differently in different contexts. The model, named the interconnected model, is three-stage model, more complex than some of the existing models(e. g. Chapman, 1981; Hossler and Gallgher, 1987), however not as complex and intricate as other models ( e.g. Mbawni and Nimako, 2015) being flexible enought to support both simpler and more complicated cases.

Higher Education, 2023

Withdrawal from doctoral education has been recognized as a problem with negative consequences for different actors, leading researchers worldwide to explore its underlying factors and processes. However, even if many PhD candidates who withdrew intend to re-enrol, there is a gap in the literature regarding the factors and processes related to re-enrolment. The aim of this qualitative study is to understand pre-and post-withdrawal experiences of PhD candidates and the factors and processes related to withdrawal, dropout and re-enrolment, through the voices of PhD candidates who withdrew and faculty in social and health sciences in a Portuguese university. Our findings conceptualize withdrawal as a behavioural manifestation of disengagement processes comprising interacting emotional/affective, cognitive, and behavioural dimensions, which start before withdrawal, extend beyond it, and may culminate in dropout or re-engagement and re-enrolment. Factors and processes related to withdrawal, dropout, or re-enrolment were situated in various nested contexts. This study highlights the need for an academic cultural change, to envisage withdrawal as a process that does not necessarily mark the end of PhD candidates' incursion into doctoral education. It draws attention to the need to provide adequate working conditions for PhD candidates, and also to promote follow-up and communication with PhD candidates who withdrew.

Sociology, 2013

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IJRAR, 2019

Controlling action on a day to day basis also requires tremendous inputs from various sources, or at times from various stimulus, which pulls every person to react to a particular situation, in the way of action, reaction, or at times no action, summing up as a decision-related action. One cannot move with alternatives at the same time but has to delve into action in any one way, and that is determined by his or her psychological makeup to take that decision, and in most of the conditions, that action will lead to success or failure, depending on the type of personality inside of the person, or at times the way a person takes a decision out of self-control, or may not be in the position to control, and hence requires an action control ability, to be successful or failure, which is dependent on the control he or she has on one's actions, be it personal or professional success or failure. So this empirical study is based to arrive at the "adult students studying management in professional institutions", to analyze the level of Action Orientation, with the help of ACS-24 tool to classify on the basis of Action orientation subsequent to failure vs preoccupation (AOF), and Prospective and Decision-related action orientation vs hesitation (AOD).

International journal of doctoral studies, 2024

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Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the factors which influence students when deciding to study abroad. The case study is based on Polish students studying in the British higher education system (UK HE) and the paper examines these students’ choices and their decision-making process when selecting their university studies. The literature review suggests that there are two types of factors influencing students’ decision- making process: push factors, which operate within the home country, and pull factors, meaning that students are attracted by the host country and encouraged to study there. Polish students constitute a significant group of EU students who study in the UK and yet there are very few studies on this particular group. The results from this qualitative research on Polish students studying in a selected British university indicate that, contrary to a number of other studies, pull factors could be more important in influencing Polish students’ decision-making proc...