@crollParticipationHigherEducation2013

(2013) - Paul Croll, Gaynor Attwood

Journal: British Journal of Educational Studies
Link:: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071005.2013.787386
DOI:: 10.1080/00071005.2013.787386
Links::
Tags:: #paper #Aspirations #Attainment #SocialClass #Education
Cite Key:: [@crollParticipationHigherEducation2013]

Abstract

The recent report of the Milburn Review into Social Mobility highlights the under-representation of young people from lower socio-economic groups in higher education and encourages universities and others to act to remedy this situation as a contribution to greater social mobility. The paper uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England to examine the relationship between social background, attainment and university participation. The results show that differences in school-level attainment associated with social background are by far the most important explanation for social background differences in university attendance. However, there remains a small proportion of the participation gap that is not accounted for by attainment. It is also the case that early intentions for higher education participation are highly predictive of actual participation. The results suggest that although there may be some scope for universities to act to improve participation by people from less advantaged backgrounds, a much more important focus of action is on improving the school-level achievement of these students.

Notes

“the results show that differences in school-level attainment associated with social background are by far the most important explanation for social background differences in university attendance” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 187)

“It is also the case that early intentions for higher education participation are highly predictive of actual participation” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 187)

“Tight (2012) analysed the extent to which access to higher education has widened in the past 60 or so years for groups who have traditionally been under-represented. For some groups who had previously been under-represented, in particular females and students from ethnic minorities, participation has widened dramatically” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 188)

“Young people from families in less advantaged socio-economic situations are still under-represented at university compared with those from more privileged backgrounds. However, as Gorard (2008) has pointed out and as Tight (2012) recognises, this is largely explained by the poorer school-level qualifications that, on average, students from less advantaged backgrounds obtain.” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 188)

“Following Boudon, Goldthorpe distinguishes between the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ effects of SES. Primary effects are the effects of SES that come about because of attainment differences between children from different social backgrounds, and are the kind of effects Gorard (2008) describes in terms of the lower school-level qualification obtained, on average, by pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Secondary effects are not mediated by attainment but come about through choices and decisions made by pupils and their families and possibly other actors in the education system” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 189)

“GCSE results are not the formal basis for offers of university places but they are a very good predictor of A-level results and also inform the university admissions process” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 196)

“The evidence quoted here and elsewhere is that, despite policy commitments to increasing opportunities for these young people, there had been very little change in the relative rates of participation by students from different socio-economic groups” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 199)

“The results presented above confirm the strong association between SES and participation in higher education: young people from professional and managerial (Service) backgrounds are more than twice as likely to go to university than those from manual (Routine) backgrounds” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 200)

“Not surprisingly the strongest pattern of association to emerge from the analysis was that of educational attainment and all the other variables. Attainment was very strongly linked to aspiring to university, to attending university and to the socio-economic background of the young people” (Croll and Attwood, 2013, p. 200)