The value of non‐participation in higher education

Abstract

The drive to expand access to higher education (HE) in the UK assumes that it is a desirable option that will benefit both the individual and his or her wider community. There is also an assumption that low aspirations and low achievements present a barrier to increasing participation rates. Based upon a recent qualitative study of young people in the east of England who left school with little or no desire to enter HE, and drawing on the capability approach of Amartya Sen, our paper questions this assumption and posits that there is an alternative reading of low aspirations as different aspirations that lead young people away from HE and towards other valued lives and lifestyles. The life histories of 10 young people are used here to illustrate their aspirations and achievements, as well as their perspectives of HE, and to argue for the need to reconsider the practical and moral challenges confronting the current widening participation agenda.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the East of England Development Agency for funding this research. We would also like to thank Professor Kate Robinson, Pro‐Vice Chancellor of Luton University, for posing the questions that gave us the title for our research.