The minority within the minority: The survival strategies of Gypsy and Traveller students in Higher Education
Published on 16 July, 2022.
In n recent years, there has been an increased focus on the barriers faced by Gypsies and Travellers in accessing Higher Education (e.g. Clark, 2004; Mulcahy, Baars, Bowen-Viner and Menzies, 2017; Darcy and Galloway, 2018). This follows decades of research on the attitudes, barriers and experiences of pupils in compulsory education (e.g., Bhopal, 2004; Levinson, 2007, 2014; Hamilton, 2016). However, there is still a lack of research exploring the trajectories within Higher Education. In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this research draws attention to the stories of students who have succeeded in such educational environment. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, we attempted to explore how six Gypsy and Traveller students in the United Kingdom and Ireland have sustained positive participation during their time in Higher Education and identify the factors that contributed to their success. The results show that students often experienced discrimination and othering in Higher Education Institutions that often resulted in a sense of displacement as students learned to navigate through not only the institutions but their own identities. Playing white, finding a sense of purpose and focus on their studies were the main surviving strategies identified within the individuals studied