Higher Education and the Graduate Labour Market: The ‘Class Factor’

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on the experiences of working‐class students at different stages of the student life cycle. It examines the factors influencing their participation rates in higher education (HE), their ability to adapt to university life, and their success in the graduate labour market. The article argues that without radical policies that fundamentally change the relationship between social class and pre‐HE qualifications, significant progress in widening participation is unlikely.

Notes

1. The lowest SEGs (the “working class”) include the following categories:

IIIM Skilled manual

IV Semi‐skilled

V Unskilled

The highest SEGs (the “middle class”) include the following categories:

I Professional and managerial

II Intermediate

IIIN Skilled non‐manual

2. The “new” universities were created in 1992 when the polytechnics were given university status. The ending of the polytechnic university binary system supposedly created a single university sector. However, the continued existence of colleges of higher education and the fact that “new” universities were differentiated from the existing (i.e. “old”) universities meant that a stratified system of HE system was retained.