Fitting in or standing out? An enquiry into the varied social cultures of UK music conservatoire students

目前英国有九所音乐学院（见Perkins &米尔斯，2009）。英国第一所音乐学院皇家音乐学院（RAM）于1822年开业，自那时以来，RAM声称成功培养了一些世界上最有影响力的音乐家（见RAM，2018）。Polifonia（2007）的一份报告指出，音乐学院最初成立是为了教育和培训古典音乐表演生涯的精英音乐家，其中许多机构仍然分享这些价值观。这个问题有两个原因。首先，这意味着音乐学院只为精英音乐家服务。其次，这表明那些进入音乐学院的人明白他们必须融入这种精英模式。虽然UCAS年度报告的数据显示，在过去10年中，申请人的人数稳步上升，但报告也显示，学生背景和试镜成功之间存在明显的相关性（见CUKAS，2006，2013;UCAS Conservatoires，2016，2017）。例如，在所有9所英国音乐学院中，来自弱势背景的学生申请入学的可能性是来自弱势背景的学生的四倍（UCASConservatoires，2015）。此外，音乐学院招收学生的方式可以被视为反映他们的精英地位（见考夫兰，2017）。虽然音乐学院通常被视为“高度选择性”（见Parakilas，2002年），但迄今为止，这些精英机构还没有进行过实证研究，分析了社会文化差异，以帮助理解音乐学院文化现象。音乐学院，就像其他精英机构一样，毫无疑问地允许精英们无缝地在这些空间中移动，并以不对来自较少背景的学生开放的方式扩展他们的特权（见Gumport，2007; Stevens，2008）。这个项目7/11将是第一个探索音乐学院目前面临的访问问题，并通过布迪厄的透镜来解决这些问题，从而在高等音乐教育研究中产生丰富的新形式的音乐。在我伦敦国王学院的博士学位课程中，我建议对伦敦音乐学院进行民族志研究，所有这些学校都没有达到政府规定的招收公立学校学生的标准。此外，排名前三的音乐学院也从包括牛津剑桥在内的任何其他英国高等教育机构中录取了较少的英国国立学校学生（见Arts Professionals，2018年的数据）。这使得这项研究比以往任何时候都更有必要。因此，如果音乐学院致力于继续改善进入这些机构的机会，那么了解这些机构中的社交空间是很重要的。

There are currently nine music conservatoires in the UK (seePerkins & Mills, 2009). The first UK conservatoire, the RoyalAcademy of Music (RAM) opened its doors in 1822 and sincethen, the RAM claims to have successfully trained some ofthe world's most influential musicians (see RAM, 2018). Areport conducted by Polifonia (2007) states thatconservatoires were originally founded to educate and trainelite musicians for a classical music performing career andmany of these institutions still share these values. Thissuggestion is problematic for two reasons. First, it impliesthat the conservatoires are only for elite musicians.Secondly, it suggests that those entering the conservatoiredo so with the understanding that they have to fit into thismodel of elite. Whilst data from UCAS annual reports show asteady rise in applicants throughout the past 10 years, thereports also show a clear correlation between studentbackground and audition success (See CUKAS, 2006, 2013;UCAS Conservatoires, 2016, 2017). For example, studentsauditioning for entry from advantaged backgrounds into theat all 9 UK conservatoires were four times more likely to haveapplied than those from disadvantaged backgrounds (UCASConservatoires, 2015). Furthermore, the way conservatoiresseek to recruit students can be seen to reflect their elitestatus (see Coughlan, 2017). Although conservatoires haveusually been seen as "highly selective" (see Parakilas, 2002)there has been no empirical research done to date withinthese elite institutions which has analysed the socioculturalpractises to help understand the phenomenon ofconservatoire culture. Conservatoires, just like other eliteinstitutions, questionably allow the elites to seamlessly movethrough these spaces and extend their privilege in ways notopen to students from less advantaged backgrounds (seediscussions in Gumport, 2007; Stevens, 2008). This project7 / 11will be the first of its kind to explore the access issuesconservatoires are currently facing and to problematisethese through a Bourdieusian lens to generate a wealth ofnew forms of practises within higher music educationresearch.In my PhD at Kings College London, I propose to carry out anethnographic study on the London conservatoires, all ofwhich have failed to meet their government benchmark forthe recruitment of state schooled students. Furthermore, thetop three conservatoires also admitted less UK stateschooled students out of any other UK HE institution,including Oxbridge (see data in Arts Professionals, 2018).This makes this research more needed than ever before.Therefore, it is important to make sense of the kinds of socialspaces within these institutions if conservatoires arecommitted to continue to improve access to them.