Degrees of value: Cultivating privilege at an elite university

This study examines how students at the London School of Economics (LSE) perceive the value of their university degree. The research employs mixed methods, combining a survey of second- and third- year undergraduates with follow-up in-depth interviews. The survey captured students’ perceived educational gains, priorities during university, as well as beliefs about factors influencing success at university and in the labour market. Students with different profiles — defined by their understandings of success—were selected for in-depth interviews to explore how they negotiated between competing priorities. Findings show how under perceived conditions of social congestion (Brown, 2013), students navigate elite higher education as a site for cultivating multiple forms of graduate capital (Tomlinson, 2017) so as to gain positional advantages over other graduates.