Study Cultures as Mediators of Educational Equality in Diverse University Settings

Abstract

This study conceptualises undergraduate students’ academic work as both a social and didactic phenomenon, analysed across two epistemologically contrasting fields: Education and Accounting. From a perspective of educational justice, it examines how learning cultures—defined as sets of practices, values, and dispositions towards knowledge—mediate experiences of equality in higher education. A mixed methodology combining ethnographic fieldwork, qualitative interviews, archival analysis, and descriptive and inferential statistics was applied. The sample comprised 305 undergraduate students from public universities in Peru. Findings show that variability in learning strategies, rather than the amount of time spent studying, is significantly associated with higher academic achievement and more equitable educational experiences. The diversity of academic tasks and learning environments reflects both cognitive flexibility and inequalities in access to material and symbolic resources. The results indicate that learning cultures act as mediating processes linking institutional structures, pedagogical practices, and student autonomy. By connecting micro-level academic habits with broader social and institutional contexts, the study bridges the gap between structural analyses of inequality and lived experiences of educational justice. It concludes that universities should cultivate inclusive pedagogical ecologies that recognise diversity in learning approaches as a central condition for equality in higher education.