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

目前在英国有九所音乐学院（见perkins & Mills， 2009）。英国第一所音乐学院，皇家音乐学院（RAM）于1822年开业，自那以后，RAM声称已经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，音乐学院最初是为了教育和培训古典音乐表演事业的精英音乐家而建立的，许多这些机构仍然秉承着这些价值观。这个建议是有问题的，原因有二。首先，这意味着音乐学院只招收精英音乐家。其次，它表明，那些进入音乐学院的人都明白，他们必须适应这种精英模式。UCAS年度报告的数据显示，在过去10年里，申请人数稳步上升，报告还显示，学生背景与试镜成功之间存在明显的相关性（见CUKAS， 2006年，2013年；UCAS Conservatoires， 2016年，2017年）。例如，在英国所有9所音乐学院中，来自优越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反映出他们的精英地位（见Coughlan， 2017）。虽然音乐学院通常被认为是“高度选择性的”（见Parakilas， 2002），但迄今为止还没有在这些精英机构中进行的实证研究，这些研究分析了社会文化实践，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在这些空间中无缝移动，并以不向弱势背景的学生开放的方式扩展他们的特权（见Gumport, 2007; Stevens, 2008）。该项目将首次探索音乐学院目前面临的进入问题，并通过布尔迪厄主义的视角来解决这些问题，从而在高等音乐教育研究中产生丰富的新形式的实践。在伦敦国王学院攻读博士学位期间，我提议对伦敦的音乐学院进行人类学研究，因为这些音乐学院在招收公立学校学生方面都未能达到政府设定的标准。此外，排名前三的音乐学院录取的英国公立学校学生也少于其他英国高等教育机构，包括牛津剑桥（见2018年艺术专业人士的数据）。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对这些机构的访问，那么了解这些机构内的社交空间类型是很重要的。

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.