Undergraduates’ memories of school-based work experience and the role of social class in placement choices in the UK

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a study of 49 young first-year UK undergraduates who had undergone one or two weeks of work experience at school between the ages of 14 and 16. Previous studies focusing on the whole school cohort suggested that the nature of work experience placements was strongly predicted by class. In particular, middle class families were seen as being able to secure higher-quality placements than working class families through their higher levels of social capital. This study of young people in the large minority subset subsequently progressing to higher education also found evidence of stereotypical placement choices. However, this was situated in low-quality placements that were irrelevant to the participants’ eventual career path. One notable finding was that a significant proportion of working class students had exercised considerable personal agency to secure high-quality placements. This could challenge structuralist interpretations of young people’s decision-making, although the possibility of a retrospective construction of an explanatory narrative is noted. This paper concludes that more effort is needed to push academically-able working class young people towards placements that will increase motivation and widen horizons and that government needs to be clearer about its policy aims in this area.

Keywords:

• work experience
• social class
• social mobility
• social capital
• widening participation
• higher education

Notes

1. This paper will focus primarily on England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland having different schooling systems, although the themes in the paper are likely to apply across the UK.

2. These measures apply to England only. For the four respondents from outside England, the nearest equivalent measures were used although they are not directly comparable.

3. Aimhigher is the government agency, formed in 2004 and closed in 2011, which was tasked with increasing the number of applications to higher education from young people from lower socio-economic groups.