Excluded from the institutional habitus: The joint student experience

This article examines the student experience for a particular cohort, namely the joint honours students, at a post-1992 university in the United Kingdom. These students are enrolled in degree courses that combine two subjects at one university. Little attention has so far been given to such students whose experience is decidedly different from that of single honours students. By using a mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative questionnaires, focus groups, individual interview and ethnography, the article attempts to highlight elements of the student experience that are unique to the joint provision. It will draw on the concept of 'institutional habitus' to argue that joint honours students experience their time at university often in isolation and as excluded from the institutional norm.