Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 24. 26th September 1973
Privilege in Society
Privilege in Society
The exam rigmarole which students suffer is no more than an elaborate smokescreen to hide the perpetuation of privilege in society.
A look at who goes to university confirms this statement. There is a disproportionate representation of the middle classes at the university. For example, only 5% of university students in 1969 had parents who held semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. Yet this category comprises about 40% of the labour force.
Success in education is determined not by the intellectual ability necessary to pass exams, but primarily by ones class background.
The person who works low down the hierarchy of jobs is primarily required to follow orders. He transfers this to his family life.
The family is also run in an authoritarian manner with the breadwinner being the oppresssor. The children of ordinary workers grow up in their first five years learning to behave according to the rules laid down from above. Schools are also forced by and large to treat working class children in the same way. This is what the children themselves expect.
The middle class family operates differently. The breadwinner is high up the job hierarchy. He generates the orders which achieve the organisations goals. The middle class man is able to generate the correct orders and behave in the correct manner because he has internalised the norms of the firm.