THE POLYTECHNIC LABEL: DURABLE INEQUALITIES FROM POLYTECHNIC TO UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Through ability streaming, students in Singapore are sorted into well-defined educational pathways. While the education system is flexible enough to allow for ‘late bloomers’ to get onto the path of university, ‘late bloomers’ are beset by hidden injuries of class that continue into university. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 undergraduates with a polytechnic background, this thesis probes the durability of the ‘polytechnic label’ at the university level, arguing that categorical inequalities such as ‘being from the polytechnic’ invariably shape their self-identity and chances of upward mobility. I posit that the polytechnic label is consequential for their sense of ‘fit’ and social integration at the university, which implicates their opportunities to foster and glean crucial capital gains during their university years. Further, I show how these students invoke stigma management techniques in response to subtle and systemic status discrimination and employ therapeutic narratives of class change to make sense of their undergraduate journey.