This has been sitting around in my 'read this soon' pile for a while and I was finally in the right mood to attack this one.

I did really like this book but in some ways I was hoping it would be better. It had a good mix of anecdotes and facts but it just still felt a bit 'light'. there were many things that I would have liked to have been explored in more depth. One example was a passing comment regarding alternative career pathways and standardisation of professional pathways. Covered in less than a paragraph. I recall when nursing training in Australia was moved to the universities, as the author had mentioned doctors around the same part of the book I'd be interested in mentioning this (around the time I was working night shifts in nursing homes while studying, I recall a fair few discussions from the nurse on duty about how she felt about this). This is just one example of a pathway changing that I am personally aware of, in this book it is mentioned about older barristers, what other professions have been affected? What is the background behind these imposed changes? What about 'hybrid' pathways (e.g. study at university for 6 months, work in the industry for 6 months). What is the cohort of people being accepted into these programs? Does this particular model once again only benefit those who wouldn't experience financial stress with full time study or does it open it up?

Another topic I would have been interested in would have been the extent to which 'exchange years' (so not to the level of a Rhodes scholarship, but getting the opportunity to study at an overseas university for a year or two and what advantages are granted with this model.
I came out of this with the feeling of having attended brunch when I really wanted dinner.

I feel that this is a really important topic that deserves attention (that privilege passes down generations). Perhaps too much was attempted to be covered in a single book, resulting in me feeling that the author was skipping from topic to topic against a checklist.

I definitely did enjoy this book though and am glad I read it, but still it will be passed onto a friend (as I don't think I'll re-read) ( )

In Who Gets To Be Smart, Bri Lee explores the relationship between education, privilege, power and knowledge.

“Knowledge is power, and when powerful people are allowed to shape knowledge and restrict access to knowledge, they are able to consolidate and strengthen their hold on that power.”

Lee’s focus is primarily on the gatekeepers of educational access and success in Australia, and their role in determining who gets to be ‘smart’, rather than the contribution of raw intelligence to the equation. The majority of Lee’s observations about the ways in which knowledge is controlled by those with privilege and power seem obvious to me so I don’t feel the book offered me much personally in the way of unique insight, though I’m sure there are some who have never considered the correlation.

It seemed to me that Lee occasionally followed paths that didn’t really connect to the central premise. There were relevant topics I felt Lee didn’t acknowledge such as Australia’s secondary and tertiary scholarship options, and I think the HECS-HELP and VET schemes merited more discussion.

Lee’s own anecdotes and asides keeps Who Gets To Be Smart from being dry. Her research seems sound, and the information is presented in an accessible manner.

I found Who Gets To Be Smart to be an interesting read, I hope it sparks discussion about inequality in educational access and success that will lead to change. ( )