Othello Essay Research Paper The tragedy Othello free essay sample

Othello Essay, Research Paper The calamity Othello written by William Shakespeare shows several types of Contrast. In this calamity, each chief character is contrasted with another character who is the complete antonym of them. Three specific contrasts shown in Othello are Iago and Cassio, Iago and Desdemona, and Iago? s internal and external visual aspects. All three of these contrasts are absolutely derived to be complete antonyms. The first contrast is Iago and Cassio. Iago, since the beginning of the drama, was really angry at Othello for naming? A great arithmetician, one Michael Cassio, a Florentine? as his 2nd in bid alternatively of Iago himself ( I. I. 20-21 ) . Iago was evidently a selfish individual because he merely cared about himself and did non bother to recognize why Cassio had been given a higher rank. Cassio on the other manus, was ever at that place to assist and function Othello in any manner. We will write a custom essay sample on Othello Essay Research Paper The tragedy Othello or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He was a generous individual. For illustration, when Desdemona was supposed to sail to Cyprus to run into Othello, Cassio stayed behind with Desdemona and accompanied her to Cyprus to do certain she got at that place safely. Cassio did what any gentleman would hold done. He was a loyal soldier and would hold done anything for Othello. But Iago was an evil individual with no compunction whatsoever for all of the conniving, oblique Acts of the Apostless he was to perpetrate subsequently on in the drama. He was a fallacious individual who was traveling to betray Othello, a individual who relied greatly on him. But non merely that, Iago was besides traveling to destruct the lives of other guiltless people. Iago was every bit misanthropic as the Satan and should non hold been trusted. He used? Others to foster his ain darkness and fulfill his? thirst for immorality ( Kernan 84 ) . Iago himself admitted to being a prevaricator. In the beginning of the drama, Iago stated? I am non what I am? ( I. I. 71 ) . By stating this, Iago was squealing that he was a prevaricator and that he was witting of everything he was making and was about to make. The 2nd contrast is Iago and Desdemona, and evidently, Iago already proved himself to be a dishonorable individual. So it is merely logical that Iago? s antonym in the drama would be an honest individual, which is Desdemona. Desdemona was a individual who was true, guiltless, pure, and ever? Sought to function and love others? ( Kernan 84 ) . Throughout the drama, Desdemona proclaimed the truth to Othello that she had non cheated on him. Even though Othello killed Desdemona, she was a individual who ever spoke the truth and died stating the truth. Iag O nevertheless, was the exact antonym of Desdemona. He was an evil, malicious, impenitent, prevarication, and conniving adult male. He stood for all of the bad things, while Desdemona stood for all of the things that were good. While Desdemona ever thought of? The best of everyone? , Iago thought the worst in everyone and frequently used? Imagery of animate beings and physical maps to show? his sentiment of world ( Kernan 84 ) . When Desdemona showed emotions and was idealistic about things, Iago was merely field misanthropic ( Kernan 84 ) . Desdemona was like a life force that thrived for order, growing, and visible radiation in her community while Iago was the anti-life force that sought decease and devastation for the universe ( Kernan 84 ) . Iago, the individual who caused all of the pandemonium and bad luck in the calamity, Othello, evidently had two sides to himself. As the following contrast will explicate, Iago? s internal and external visual aspects were both really deceiving. Iago? s external visual aspect seemed to be merely every bit honorable as? The true and loyal soldier Cassio? ( Kernan 82 ) . But Iago managed to truly gull everyone. No 1 suspected that Iago was traveling to double-cross any of them, but so once more, why should they hold suspected. Iago seemed merely as honest and loyal as Cassio, so truly, there was no surmising. The lone individual that might hold had a intimation would hold been Othello. Since Othello had non given Iago the rank that he wanted, Othello should hold suspected a small green-eyed monster or choler. But since Othello was so fleeceable, he bought right into Iago? s act. Beneath Iago? s? Exterior of the field soldier? , there was a ? universe of demonism so intense? that it defied rational account ( Kernan 79 ) . Iago? s internal side was every bit fallacious as the Satan. He managed to gull everyone into thought that he was an honest individual and did non care if he ruined their lives as long as he got what he wanted. But his attempts proved to be worthless because in the terminal, Iago did non have what he had sought out for throughout the full drama. In decision, the calamity Othello is a drama that was good written that shows how contrast should truly be perceived. Each chief character was given an exact face-to-face in the drama and each individual was setup so good that that the contrasts work out to be perfect. Kernan, Alvin B. ? Othello: An Introduction. ? The Calamity of Othello. Ed. Alvin B. Kernan. New York: New American Library, 1963. Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York: Pocket Books, 1993.

Free Essays on The Queen Mab Speech

Queen Mab Speech Shakespeare uses Mercutios’ fantastical Queen Mab speech to foreshadow future events in the play. Romeo is very affected by the speech because it is he who has strong desires. Mercutios speech is about Queen Mab who is the mid-wife or the creator of desires. Queen Mab comes in your dreams and gives you your desires. When you desire too much she makes you suffer and pay the consequences. Romeo has strong desires for a storybook love and for a girl named Roselyn. Romeo feels that he will have to pay the consequence of death for his desires: L115 â€Å" I fear too early for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with the nights revels, and expire the term of despised life closed in my breast by vile forfeit of untimely death but he that hath the steerage of my course direct my sail. On lusty gentlemen.† When Romeo said this he means that in his future he will have to pay for the desires he has and his consequence will be an early death. Mercutios speech had convinced Romeo that desire caused pain. And since he desired so strongly he feared that he would have to pay for the desires. Romeo feels that somewhere in his future his consequence will come Romeo states this in L 114 â€Å"some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date.† Here Romeo foreshadows what is to become of him by the end of the play. Romeo does indeed have an untimely death in the end and suffers the consequences of those desires by the death of his true love Juliet and his own suicide.... Free Essays on The Queen Mab Speech Free Essays on The Queen Mab Speech Queen Mab Speech Shakespeare uses Mercutios’ fantastical Queen Mab speech to foreshadow future events in the play. Romeo is very affected by the speech because it is he who has strong desires. Mercutios speech is about Queen Mab who is the mid-wife or the creator of desires. Queen Mab comes in your dreams and gives you your desires. When you desire too much she makes you suffer and pay the consequences. Romeo has strong desires for a storybook love and for a girl named Roselyn. Romeo feels that he will have to pay the consequence of death for his desires: L115 â€Å" I fear too early for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with the nights revels, and expire the term of despised life closed in my breast by vile forfeit of untimely death but he that hath the steerage of my course direct my sail. On lusty gentlemen.† When Romeo said this he means that in his future he will have to pay for the desires he has and his consequence will be an early death. Mercutios speech had convinced Romeo that desire caused pain. And since he desired so strongly he feared that he would have to pay for the desires. Romeo feels that somewhere in his future his consequence will come Romeo states this in L 114 â€Å"some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date.† Here Romeo foreshadows what is to become of him by the end of the play. Romeo does indeed have an untimely death in the end and suffers the consequences of those desires by the death of his true love Juliet and his own suicide....

How To Use the Spanish Preposition A

How To Use the Spanish Preposition A The Spanish preposition a is often thought of as the equivalent of to - but in fact it has far more uses. A can also be the equivalent of on, at, from, by or in, among others. And in many cases it is not translated at all. Rather than learning how to use the Spanish a by its translation, it is probably best to learn the purposes for which a is used. The following list doesnt cover all its uses, but it does show the uses you are most likely to come across at the beginning stages of learning Spanish. Where a is translated, the translation is indicated in boldface. Using A To Indicate Motion or Location Almost any verb indicating motion, and even nouns, can be followed by a before a destination. It can also be used with some other verbs to indicate where the verbs action takes place. Llegamos a Argentina. (We arrived in Argentina.)Se acercà ³ a la casa. (He approached the house.)Cayà ³ al piso. (It fell to the floor.)Ofrecemos servicios especializados para facilitar su visita a Disneyland. (We offer specialized services to facility your visit to Disneyland.)Esa es la puerta al baà ±o. (That is the door to the bathroom. Al is a contraction of a el, usually meaning to the.)Me siento a la mesa. (I am sitting at the table.) Using A Before an Infinitive A is often used to connect a verb with an infinitive that follows. This use is especially common when indicating the start of an action. In these cases, a is not translated separately from the infinitive. Empezà ³ a salir. (She began to leave.)Entrà ³ a hablar contigo. (He came in to talk to you.)Él se negà ³ a nadar. (He refused to swim.)He venido a estudiar. (I have come to study.)Comenzà ³ a bailar. (She began to dance.) The most common usage following this patter is using ir a infinitive to form the a type of future tense  known as the periphrastic future. Si no jugamos bien no vamos a ganar. (If we dont play well we arent going to win.)Voy  a  cantar.  (I am going to sing.)Tenemos que aceptar que tal vez no nos vayan a entender. (We have to accept that sometimes they arent going to understand us.) Using A To Indicate Manner or Method Numerous expressions begin with a followed by a noun to indicate how something is done. The phrase starting with a functions as an adverb and is sometimes translated as one. Vamos a pie. (We are going on foot.)Hay que fijarlo a mano. (It is necessary to fix it by hand. Note that a mano also could have been translated as manually, an adverb.)Estoy a dieta. (I am on a diet.)Escribo a lpiz. (I am writing with a pencil.)Andan a ciegas. (They are walking blindly.)Llegamos a tiempo. (We are arriving on time.)La internet evoluciona a cada instante. (The Internet is changing constantly.)Lee el libro a escondidas. (She is studying the book covertly.) Introducing an Object With A Before a direct object, a is used before name or noun that represents a person in a usage known as the personal a. The preposition in these cases usually is not translated. A can also introduce an indirect object. Conozco a Pedro. (I know Peter. In this and the next two examples, the name functions as a direct object.)Encontrà © a Fido. (I found Fido.)Verà © a Marà ­a. (I will see Mary.)Le doy una camisa a Jorge. (I am giving a shirt to George. In this and the next three examples, George is an indirect object. Note how the translation of a varies with the verb.)Le compro una camisa a Jorge. (I am buying a shirt for George.)Le robo una camisa a Jorge. (I am taking a shirt from George.)Le pongo la camisa a Jorge. (I am putting the shirt on George.) Using A in Time Expressions A is sometimes used in specifying times or days. Salimos a las cuatro. (We are leaving at four.)A la una de la noche escuchamos maullar. (At 1 in the morning we heard meowing.)Estamos a lunes. (Today is Monday. Literally, we are at Monday.)

Variables that Affected Voter Turnout Rates in the 2012 Presidential Research Paper

Variables that Affected Voter Turnout Rates in the 2012 Presidential Elections In the United States - Research Paper Example Did various demographic variables affect the voter turnout during the 2012 presidential elections of the United States? The 2012 presidential elections voter turnout rate was lower compared to the previous 2008 elections, as shown in the diagram below. According to many scholars and academicians, various demographic factors were responsible for the decreased voter turnout. This research, therefore, seeks to provide a concrete answer or response to this question, putting into consideration various demographic variables associated with elections and voter turnout rates. At this juncture, it is worth noting that the actual voter turnout was 66.65%, a figure that is arrived at after comparing the 129,067,662 individuals who voted out of the 193,653,908 registered voters (I.D.E.A 1). A number of scholars and academicians alike have attributed various factors, both demographic and demographic, to the decreased voter turnout rate in the year 2012. In his article, â€Å"why is turnout so low in United States elections†, Eric black has considered two major non-demographic factors. Black attributes the low turnout rates to the legal requirement of voter registration. According to him, many people are unable to vote simply because they do not like the cumbersome and complex procedure of voter registration. The other factor he considers is the voluntary voting, which allows people the liberty to choose whether to vote or not. The United States citizens are not compelled to exercise their civic and political right of voting, and therefore the voter turnout rates will always remain low. The Institute of Democracy and Electorate Assistance (IDEA) has also conducted a research and compiled data regarding the same issue.

Innovation Planning and Design Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Innovation Planning and Design Paper - Essay Example This paper seeks to discuss innovation planning and design so as to maintain stability, productivity and profitability in industries. Innovation planning process is not easy since creativity must be adopted in any company or in the market place. This is because is a firm does not involve innovation plan, this means that one must maximize the creativity of ideas so that the ideas that one has are put in place and they can only implemented, if one utilizes innovation plan. If one is a manager in any organization, the first thing to emulate is the goal that one wants the company to achieve. As a manager, one must state the goal or the problem that is going to be addressed and then have a particular target group. This means that one must be prepared for the project since the responsibility is not on the management but it is on the entire organization. A project that is started in any organization depicts a life cycle where all the entire organization has to be involved and be part and parcel of the project. A project should not be restricted to a specific project team since other member within the organization can contribute to innovation planning process by providing resourceful ideas or feedback. Resources and the basic tools needed and capturing of ideas must be available and have assurance that the company will be able to provide the required resources any time they are needed (Davila, 2006). The facilitators must be considered accordingly since without them will mean that innovation planning will not be achieved thus certain amount of fund must be set aside. Time is a limited factor in a project which one is focused at developing and implementing. This means that an individual must consider time to capture and develop ideas. In this step since one is not interested in implementation, then one should not take a lot of time to capture and develop ideas. As an

Employment of elderly people in Hong Kong

Employment of elderly people in Hong Kong In the past decades, the discussion of work and aging has aroused widely public and professional thinking. In this paper, I would begin with the analysis of the current Hong Kong situations and characteristics of older workers, among which I pay most of attention to the low participation rate of elderly workers and try to demonstrate the reason accounting for that. The second part can be seen as a brief summary of the productivity and limitations of old workers in Hong Kong today. Finally, I would come up with several suggestions on how to encourage labor force participation. Keywords: employment of elderly, productivity, functional limitation, old worker Employment of elderly people Situations of the employment of elderly in Hong Kong With the baby boomer generations entering into their old years, the employment of older people has brought about wide public concern. According to the sources from Census and Statistics Department, at the middle of 2010, there are more than 1.78 million Hong Kong people over the age of 55, 51.46 percent of whom are age 65 and above, and 25.76 percent of whom are age 75 and above. Many of these people are working or have had work experience and, many of retired persons work at least part time after they leave their permanent job. Among all the features of older workers in Hong Kong today, we would focus on several main characteristics to help us understand the situation. Labor force participation rates In Hong Kong 2009, the labor force participation rates, which refer to the proportion of economically active population (that is the labor force) in the total population aged 15 and above was 26.5 percent for the age 55 and above. Among that, we can find that the labor force participation rate for this age group was apparently higher for males (37.6 percent) than for females (15.9 percent). Nevertheless, nearly ten years ago, the labor force participation rates of the age 55 or over was 56 percent, which is almost twice the number of today. The employed and unemployed population The unemployment rate of older worker is relatively lower than that of young workers. In 2009, the unemployment rate for age group of 60 or above was 3.1 percent, which substantially lower than its counterpart aged 20-29 group of 7.3 percent. There are a few reasons accounting for that, but the most important one would be that older people can retire as an alternative choice. On the other hand, people over the age of 50 are still employed for a number of reasons. Thomas Leavitt once mentions that, the majority of people at ages 50-62 would still choose to work mostly because they enjoy the satisfaction and useful feeling brought by working, which followed by the need to make money. However, at the age of 62 or over, the requirement for money becomes their major concern. Low labor force participation rate among older persons The downward trend in labor force participation rates among elderly is considered by many people. First of all, many would agree that the current social security policy carried out by the government is encouraging the increased employment rate for young people by removing the old workers in the labor force. Turner claims that: for any given employee at any given time, the alternative of retiring on a pension is more attractive than to keep working for a salary. (Turner, 1993) The social security and medical care of old people do protect them from low income, but is also reduces the employment rate. The productivity and functional limitations of older workers Most of us would agree that productive activity plays a significant role in successful aging and higher self-related happiness. Older people who remain high level of productivity accomplish better physical functioning and are less likely to die six years after self-report. Therefore, we would like to ask: how elderly Hong Kong people will take part in economic and social activities? The assumption that age and job performance are closely related has been confirmed by a variety of aging researches (McEvoy and Cascio, 1989). On one hand, many reported that older workers are more productive than younger workers for that they tend to be more dependable, careful and responsible. Certainly, no evidence shows that learning capacities will significantly fall with the aging process. Therefore, it is important to find out aged related decline causes so that we can extend work-life for elderly by providing protections, services and benefits. On investigating the effects of the potential of aging have on the productivity of older worker, I pay attention to the following factors: Age-related physical changes and limitations There are many indications imply that the strength of people declines with the aging process. Many people at age of 60 report that physically demanding job is hard and strenuous for them to carry on, so they tend to leave the work that is highly physical in nature. Apart from changes in strength, old people also experience the physical loss of endurance and balance and, an increase of reaction time as a result of peripheral nervous system gradually slows down. With regard to health and rehabilitation, it is well-accepted that the measures of functional capacity can reflect the extent to which elderly are able to work. However, the functional capacity does not merely mean an absence of disease. There are conditions which are directly related to aging, such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. While for those conditions such as hearing and visual impairment, they are not necessarily the functional limitations preventing people from work. Annis and colleagues (Annis et al. 1991) also conclude that weight gains are regarded as the fifth decade of life, followed by declines. They mentions in their research on anthropometric changes with age: the individuals body dimensions change also, characterized by increases in the size of the stomach and hips. Moreover, some old workers admit that they have difficulties to perform tasks involving highly repetitive manual actions, the use of small hand tools or using force (Tayyari Sohrabi, 1990). Age-related cognitive changes and limitations The traditional discussion about changes in cognitive ability of old people focuses on intelligence, memory, and learning and so on. According to medical findings, brain loses weight as a result of shrinking neuron size in cerebral cortex and some mental problems such as depression and dementia occur with aging. Yet in order to perceive the complicated relationship between cognitive change and working ability, I refer to some mental models of cognitive sciences to help us understand the situation in which old people gain knowledge, skills and experience through aging while loss perceptual capacity and motor speed. When assessing the changes in intelligence, major longitudinal studies (Schaie, 1985) claim that most individuals can maintain the stable intellectual level well into their seventies and over and that modifiability in brain function continue well into late adulthood. But findings also suggest that people tend to less efficiently process complex information with increase of age. Overall, there is no obvious evidence show that old peoples performance is unsatisfactory under the daily and ordinary job situations. Even if there are changes in problem-solving ability of older people, they can use job experience and extensive skills to compensate age-related slowing performance. Older adults deliver a decline performance on lab-related cognitive task but demonstrate good level performance in real-world job, and there appears to be no significant relationship between age and job capacities. Warren Buffett, born in 1930 and ranked as the worlds second wealthiest person in 2009, is one of the most successful, active and smart investors in the stock and capital market of the world today. He is often called the legendary investor Warren Buffett for his precisely judgment of the market and value invest philosophy. But he is not a special case in the expertise, problem solving and decision making condition of old people. Actually, everyday plenty of old adults are making the most important and complicated decisions in the world as executives, politicians, and world leaders. Researches find that cognitive processes appear to be more important in the differentiating the old and young managers. Expertise in a certain field can act as an improvement to cognitive aging. In a research conducted to investigate the relationship between cognitive aging and experience, sociologists find that among experienced players, those who are skilled in bidding strategies could ameliorate the neg ative influence of cognitive aging until nearly the age of 60. The highest level of a job description would be the creative thinking. The researches focus on creativity and idea productivity state that originality declines gradually from younger worker to older workers. Age-related sensory and perceptual changes and limitations When concern about old peoples visual changes, Fozard (1990) presents four main sensory and perceptual capacities we need to focus most. Firstly, he concludes that excessive extent of illumination can cause elderly workers adversely reactions. For example, older workers have shown to be more adversely affected by glare from lights in workplace. Secondly, he also mentions the disability of older adults to detect different visual stimuli, which he calls poor contrast. Old workers require more contrast between the stimuli before distinguishing them. Furthermore, a third age-related change in visual ability is the useful field of view, in which older workers gain messages from environment. Finally, he also points out that the decrease level of visual activity of older adult bring about the fact that they are not favorable to read printed material (Fozard, 1990). It is well recognized that many older people experience hearing changes such as difficulties to hear sounds at high frequencies. Sometimes we find older people would speak louder because they cannot hear themselves. What is more, many manifest trouble to understand what they have clearly heard at a given loudness. Suggestion about this can include reduce distracting noise in working place for old people. When we talk about older people, the most common stereotype of them would be slow to perceive things as an aging deficit. Scientific research findings indicate that it will take nearly 1.2 times longer for older people to finish cognitive process than their counterpart. In a conclusion, job performance is closely related to functional ability but deficits with aging can not necessarily prevent most of older workers from being still effective and qualified employees. Older workers have positive effects on labor force productivity and economic growth Encourage the labor force participation rate of elderly After talking about all the strength and deficits of older work, I would like to focus on the dealings with means of expanding the opportunities for them to regain active participants in the labor market. In the first place, empirical evidence that elderly have difficulty integrating information from multiple sources gives us a clue to develop communication and information-handling systems for older workers in workplace. For this reason, the priority for designing the system is to be acceptable by majority of users. What is more, in order to integrate into the labor force, older worker are longing for training of the new technology or skills in an easy to comprehensive way when they face up the difficulties with computerized work situations. Training and educational programs would be really helpful if we handle them on the right direction. That means we understand that elderly employees have alternative requirements for different position. Finally, if the government could apply more practical social policy and promote the social perspectives of the whole community, the low labor force participation rate may grow to meet the need of older people in Hong Kong. Even though we understand unemployment, no matter for young or old, is a problem brought about by economic recession, policy can still try to help aging who really need assistance in meeting their daily needs and can live peacefully.

Choice of University and Choice of Course in Australia Essay

After the Bradley report which was written following the review of higher education system in 2008, the Australian government has introduced many policies and financial assistance for this demographic in hope of increasing the participation rates to 20 per cent by 2020 (Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations, 2008, p. xiv). However, despite steady increases in overall tertiary participation, the inequalities still remain. People with low socio-economic status are not as successful in applying or gaining access to more prestigious institutions as those with medium or high socio-economic status are (James, 2007, p. ). It is not only participation at university level that is affected with this imbalance. Significant social differences can be seen across different universities as well as different fields of study (Reay et al. 2001, p. 858). Study by Ferguson and Simpson (2011) has found, and James (2007) agrees, that students with low socio-economic background are n ot so successful in gaining entry into the courses with more competitive entry requirements like medicine, law or architecture. These students were more concentrated in courses such as education, nursing, IT and business (James, 2007, p. 7). James (2007, p. 7) believes that the same is true for the high demand universities, where low socio-economic status students hold a share of only 11 per cent of all places. These differences can be somewhat accredited to the geographical location of these more prestigious universities as they are mainly situated in the metropolitan areas. However, there are other factors that contribute to this imbalance more so. Some experts believe that students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds may not aspire to attend these universities believing that it is not an achievable goal, or they may not perform academically well enough for more competitive courses. Other studies indicate that it is in fact the psychological factors which create socioeconomic imbalances in higher education participation. This paper will look at rates of participation, aspirations, ability and psychological factors and their affect on the decision making process of low socio-economic status students when it comes to higher education. It will argue that there is enough supporting evidence to conclude that this demographic does not have a lot of impact on university participation, choice of university or choice of course. While overall higher education participation rates have improved, socio-economically disadvantaged people are least represented group in Australian higher education. James (2007, p. 2) states that ‘social class is the single most reliable predictor of the likelihood that individuals will participate in higher education at some stage in their lives’. Undergraduate Applications, Offers and Acceptances Report from the Department of Education, Employment and Work Relations, states that in 2011, 18. 6 per cent of all applicants were from low socio-economic backgrounds, compared to 30. 6 per cent of applicants from high socio-economic group (DEEWR, 2011, p. 15). It also reports that even though applications by low socio-economic status applicants were up by 3. 4 per cent they were less likely to result in an offer. Low socio-economic status applicants had an offer rate of 79. per cent compared to 83. 5 per cent for applications from high socio-economic status applicants (DEEWR, 2011, p. 15). Even though the rates for applications and offers to higher education for low socio-economic demographic have slightly increased, according to DEEWR (2011), this demographic continues to be the least represented at university level. One of the reasons that could explain the current higher education participation numbers by people from low socio-ec onomic background is aspiration. It has to be considered as one of the principal issues in student’s decision making process. According to the English dictionary, to aspire, it means to have a strong desire to achieve something. Consequently, to attend university, an individual needs to aspire to do so. Bowden and Doughney (2010), in their study of secondary students in the western suburbs of Melbourne, have found that those with lower socio-economic status have fewer aspirations to attend university. Instead, they aspire to attend a vocational training institution or gain employment. Difference in spirations among different demographics is mainly influenced by individual’s social systems, such as class, ethnicity, gender, customs and religion (Bowden & Doughney, 2010, p. 119). Furthermore, in his research for the Department of Education, Science and Training, James has found that there is a strong relationship between parental education levels and young people’s educational aspirations (DES T, 2002, p. 51). Bowden and Doughney’s study results are consistent with James’ findings, as well as Bourdieu’s concept of ‘cultural capital’, which Harker et al. (cited in Webb et al. 002, p. 22) defined as ‘culturally valued taste and consumption pattern’. Therefore, it can be said that those who come from low socio-economic background are at a disadvantage when it comes to entering higher education due to the fact that they were not brought up with the idea of attending university. Academic achievement or student’s ability is seen as another important factor that needs to be considered when studying inequalities in higher education. This is because in Australia, university enrolment process relies heavily on individual’s academic achievement. Student’s academic record is seen as a main way of entry into the university and acquiring all the benefits that come with having a degree. Teese (cited in Ferguson & Simpson, 2011, p. 33) proposed that almost half of low socio-economic status students obtain scores in the lowest academic bands and that only small number of these students receives high academic scores. Ferguson and Simpson conclude that this is due to fewer resources, such as educational, cultural, social and financial, that are available for this group of students, rather than lack of ability. Cardak and Ryan (2009) have come to the similar conclusion. They have found that academic scores of low socio-economic status students are lower due to the fact that their early educational achievements are also lower in comparison to the more advantaged students and their achievements (Cardak & Ryan, 2009, p. 444). Both Ferguson and Simpson’s and Cardak and Ryan’s studies agree that students with same ability and same academic scores have the same likelihood of attending university regardless of their socio-economic status. They also agree that the quality of academic results rises with the status. Thus, as they don’t have access to as many resources as their more privileged peers, low socio-economic status students are at a disadvantage when it comes to securing a place at university. Although aspirations and academic ability are very important factors in higher education inequality, it could be said that the psychological factors have most of the influence on person’s decision to attend university. Students from low socio-economic background are more conscious of the existence of barriers to their entering higher education (Harris, 2005, p. 4) and are not likely to encounter diverse influences that might persuade them to participate in higher education (DEST, 2002, p. 50). James believes that students from this demographic are more likely to be doubtful about their academic ability and achievement and they would possibly be lacking financial support (DEST, 2002, p. 50). He also states that they have less confidence in parental support and a stronger interest in earning an income as soon as they leave school. ‘The perceptions and beliefs held by people with low socio-economic status can all be regarded as habitus, which is described as ‘embodied predispositions that are learned early in the life of a young person’ (Harris, 2005, p. 4). As they lack role models, it is very difficult for these young people to see university participation as something that is relevant to them or something they could achieve (Harris, 2005, p. ). In their UK based study of working class secondary students, Reay et al. (2001, p. 865) have found that this group of students were choosing universities where they were most likely to fit in, as they felt more comfortable attending such university and where they could find ‘intellectual and social peers’. Psychological factors play an important role in the decision making process due to the emotio ns attached to them. Low socio-economic status students seem to have a lot more to consider when deciding on their higher education pathway. As the evidence would suggest, students from low socio-economic background, have very little impact on university participation, choice of university or choice of course at present time. According to the government reports, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are highly under-represented at university level. Thus, higher education in Australia is far from being level playing field for some demographics. The most current review of higher education shows that the participation rates at university in general, as well as different courses and institutions are considerably lower for those ith low socio-economic status. The difference between low and high socio-economic status groups is quite significant, despite the government’s efforts to improve these numbers by implementing new policies and strategies. As discussed in this paper, the reasons for inequality are varied and complex. However, most of the researchers agree that it is the family attitudes that are at the core of t he problem. These attitudes have enormous influence on student’s decision making process. However, there is always a possibility for change. Australian universities, in conjunction with schools and government’s help, need to focus on developing new social networks and transforming set beliefs of disadvantaged students. These changes could be achieved through the use of early interventions and positive role models during middle schooling. Only with successful attitude changes will the higher education participation numbers improve for this particular demographic. References Bowden, MP & Doughney, J 2010, ‘Socio-economic status, cultural diversity and the aspirations of secondary students in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia’, High Education, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 115-129, SpringerLink, viewed 2 October 2012. Cardak, BA & Ryan, C 2009, ‘Participation in higher education in Australia: equity and access’, Economic Record, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 433-448, Wiley Online Library 2012 Full Collection, viewed 25 September 2012. Centre for the Study of Higher Education 2008, ‘Partici pation and Equity: A Review of the participation in higher education of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous people’, Universities Australia and the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE), University of Melbourne, viewed 4 October 2012, <http://www. niversitiesaustralia. edu. au/resources/271/290> Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations 2008, ‘Review of Australian higher education – Executive summary’ report prepared by D Bradley, H Noonan & B Scales, Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Canberra, pp. xi-xviii, viewed 25 September 2012, <http://www. innovation. gov. au/HigherEducation/Documents/Review/PDF/Hig