Academic performance at GCSE for British Pakistani male students has attracted wide attention over the decades. When comparing data across different ethnic groups, Pakistani males have shown to historically achieve below the expected attainment of five GCSEs at the end of secondary schooling, though gaps have narrowed. This thesis, however, will attempt to examine how a group of ten Pakistani males, despite the historically lower overall performance at GCSE within this ethnic group, were able to achieve the national expectation of attaining a minimum of five GCSEs. It will explore how the workings of the family, the educators both in mainstream and supplementary school, the social environment and agency impacted upon the trajectories. The exploration of the root causes of poor performance is well documented and research in this area has attempted to explore the continued disparity in educational outcomes (Hamashita, 2007; Iqbal, 2018; Alexander & Shankley, 2020: Iqbal & Modood, 2023). Conversely, that of favourable academic successes is less well so, and not fully understood and so firmly posits the rationale for this thesis. This thesis has explored through a qualitative, narrative inquiry of ten Pakistani males, the factors that have been responsible for positively contributing to the complex process of realising favourable academic outcomes within a challenging milieu, as presented in Bradford, a post-industrial Mill City situated in West Yorkshire, England. This thesis explores factors within the home environment in addition to external factors that engender favourable attitudes towards education and attainment. It explores how the Pakistani males navigate the contrasting influences within their social environment to secure academic success at GCSE. This study is primarily examined under Modood’s concept of ethnic capital (Modood, 2004) to explain educational success in those that possess a social class disadvantage. A new form of capital, Muslim capital, is proposed within this study, as a means to explain how ‘Muslimness’ was used to give hope and direction to the Pakistani boys. The principal findings have yielded several interrelated factors which, to varying degrees contributed to the realisation of opportunities that have collated to engender favourable outcomes in the cohort under study. Specifically, familial emphasis on the importance of education considering the emotive migratory history and the religious requirement towards study was identified. The further emphasis upon religious education and the concomitant importance of general education was reinforced at supplementary school. Teacher relatedness both at secondary and supplementary school was key to creating a focus towards study, despite difficulties that presented within the educational and social landscape. The resulting agency both collective and individual, created intrinsic and extrinsic motivational impetuses, which further defined the educational experience, and in so doing established the positive educational trajectories of the Pakistani males.
| Date of Award | 24 Mar 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Shamim Miah (Main Supervisor) & Paul Thomas (Co-Supervisor) |
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