‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis
‘Student success’ is a key driver in higher education policy and funding. Institutions often adopt a particular lens of success, emphasising ‘retention and completion’, ‘high grades’ ‘employability after graduation’ discourses, which place high value on human capital or fiscal outcomes. We explor...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2019
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170100705 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91486 |
| _version_ | 1848765527449665536 |
|---|---|
| author | Delahunty, Janine O'Shea, Sarah |
| author_facet | Delahunty, Janine O'Shea, Sarah |
| author_sort | Delahunty, Janine |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | ‘Student success’ is a key driver in higher education policy and funding. Institutions
often adopt a particular lens of success, emphasising ‘retention and completion’, ‘high
grades’ ‘employability after graduation’ discourses, which place high value on human
capital or fiscal outcomes. We explored how students themselves articulated notions
of success to understand how these meanings aligned with the implicit value system
perpetuated by neoliberal higher education systems. Qualitative data collected from
240 survey responses in the first phase of a study, were analysed using APPRAISAL, a
linguistic framework to systematically categorise evaluative language choices. This
paper focuses on questions eliciting students’ articulations of success. Neoliberal
discourses were challenged by these students, who were first-in-family at university,
with success expressed in a personal and generational sense rather than solely
meritocratic terms. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:36:40Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-91486 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:36:40Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-914862024-04-11T03:27:10Z ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis Delahunty, Janine O'Shea, Sarah ‘Student success’ is a key driver in higher education policy and funding. Institutions often adopt a particular lens of success, emphasising ‘retention and completion’, ‘high grades’ ‘employability after graduation’ discourses, which place high value on human capital or fiscal outcomes. We explored how students themselves articulated notions of success to understand how these meanings aligned with the implicit value system perpetuated by neoliberal higher education systems. Qualitative data collected from 240 survey responses in the first phase of a study, were analysed using APPRAISAL, a linguistic framework to systematically categorise evaluative language choices. This paper focuses on questions eliciting students’ articulations of success. Neoliberal discourses were challenged by these students, who were first-in-family at university, with success expressed in a personal and generational sense rather than solely meritocratic terms. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91486 10.1080/09500782.2018.1562468 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170100705 Taylor & Francis fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Delahunty, Janine O'Shea, Sarah ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title | ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title_full | ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title_fullStr | ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title_short | ‘I’m happy, and I’m passing. That’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| title_sort | ‘i’m happy, and i’m passing. that’s all that matters!’: exploring discourses of university academic success through linguistic analysis |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170100705 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91486 |