Playing the Game of Selectivity: The Normalisation of Merit and Invisibilisation of Advantage in Students' Admission into Competitive Schools
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| Title: | Playing the Game of Selectivity: The Normalisation of Merit and Invisibilisation of Advantage in Students' Admission into Competitive Schools |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Melissa Tham (ORCID |
| Source: | Power and Education. 2026 18(1):1-15. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 15 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Selective Admission, Private Schools, Foreign Countries, Secondary Schools, Student Attitudes, Educational Opportunities, Tutoring, Test Coaching, School Choice, Secondary School Students, Admission Criteria, Tests, Advantaged |
| Geographic Terms: | Australia |
| DOI: | 10.1177/17577438241297236 |
| ISSN: | 1757-7438 |
| Abstract: | Students' beliefs in schooling to achieve opportunity have been well documented in the school choice literature. How students make sense of successful entry into competitive and high-demand schools via high-stakes entrance exams is less researched. High-demand schools, including both public and private schools, can utilise entrance exams to enrol their students. This paper aims to contribute empirical and conceptual insights into school selectivity by tracing the experiences of students as they navigate exams into selective and high-fee private schools, to broaden understandings of how competitive school admissions processes can impact students. Interviews reveal that many students are motivated to achieve occupational opportunities through admission into competitive schools. Influenced by their families, all participants undergo private tutoring and exam coaching to prepare for entrance exams, from a few months to 8 years. Long-term tutoring, repetitive test-taking and applying for multiple high-demand schools both simultaneously and consecutively constitute 'playing the game of selectivity', an experience from which students develop conceptions of merit that normalises these processes. Such conceptions of merit include individualistic strategies that render invisible their own sense of economic advantage relative to others. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1497764 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Students' beliefs in schooling to achieve opportunity have been well documented in the school choice literature. How students make sense of successful entry into competitive and high-demand schools via high-stakes entrance exams is less researched. High-demand schools, including both public and private schools, can utilise entrance exams to enrol their students. This paper aims to contribute empirical and conceptual insights into school selectivity by tracing the experiences of students as they navigate exams into selective and high-fee private schools, to broaden understandings of how competitive school admissions processes can impact students. Interviews reveal that many students are motivated to achieve occupational opportunities through admission into competitive schools. Influenced by their families, all participants undergo private tutoring and exam coaching to prepare for entrance exams, from a few months to 8 years. Long-term tutoring, repetitive test-taking and applying for multiple high-demand schools both simultaneously and consecutively constitute 'playing the game of selectivity', an experience from which students develop conceptions of merit that normalises these processes. Such conceptions of merit include individualistic strategies that render invisible their own sense of economic advantage relative to others. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1757-7438 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/17577438241297236 |
