Choosing a Private University in Buenos Aires: choice spatialization in diversified contexts

Abstract

This paper describes the dynamics of private universities’ expansion and the discussions that look for an explanation, within a context of diversification and growth of higher education. The purpose of this study is to analyze the spatial and esthetical dimensions of university choices by middle-high and high-class young people from Buenos Aires; a phenomenon that has been barely addressed by socio-anthropologic studies on higher education. This ethnographic research intends to understand the dynamics of reproducing and producing social and educational inequalities in universities and college clubs. It reconstructs the phenomenon of class spatialization in universities, which is explained by both the institutional expansion of the private and state sectors and the appearance of highly segmented education markets. The selection of university based on the different scales and dimensions of space –localization and population addressed by the institutions, perceptions on college infrastructure, and meanings that associate university with place and social classes- justifies proposing the spatialization of higher education choices as a heuristically productive category to situationally understand meanings and power relationships involved in processes of education privatization, articulating urban and educational segregations.