Men accessing education: masculinities, identifications and widening participation

Drawing on ESRC‐funded research (RES‐000–22–0832), this article examines the accounts of men participating in London access and foundation programmes in relation to their shifting masculine identifications. I consider how the men’s early memories of schooling shape their student masculinities. Their accounts are contextualised in relation to hegemonic discourses of widening participation and neo‐liberalism. Drawing on feminist critique, I pay attention to the men’s self‐regulating practices in their struggle to be recognised as deserving of higher education access and participation. The interconnections and contradictions within men’s identifications across a range of differences are considered in relation to their experiences and imaginaries of accessing higher education.