Understanding the role of academic advising in supporting social mobility among probation students in Oman: A bourdieusian perspective

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Oman—indeed around the world—should take social mobility seriously. On this basis, the purpose of this qualitative case study examines the experiences of seven Omani English-major students from underprivileged backgrounds. The students are academically at-risk, being on probation and receiving academic advisory support. Regarding methodology, semi-structured interviews are used to elicit students’ experiences, while the data are analyzed thematically and through a Bourdieusian lens. Bourdieu [1] social theory is used—namely, concepts of cultural field, habitus, the rules of the game and reflexivity—to explicate the impact of academic advice on these students and take into account the students’ social backgrounds and their academic achievements. The findings of the study show that students on academic probation value the role played by their academic advisors in assisting them to overcome their situation and the educational barriers they encountered. The study implies that in order for on-probation students to adopt the academic habitus and to ‘succeed’ within the academic field, they also need to be able to articulate the relationship between their personal trajectory, their habitus and the rules and demands of the field. This study concludes by presenting practical and policy solutions, whilst also indicating the contribution to the growing body of literature related to academic probation and academic advisory support—particularly in narrowing social and economic gaps.