INEQUALITIES IN THE TAKE UP OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES AFTER GRADUATION? Dr. Sally Hancock Department of Education, University of York sally.hancock@york.ac.uk Access & Widening Participation Network, SRHE 9th March 2017

Professor Gillian Hampden-Thompson Acknowledgements Dr Paul Wakeling Professor Gillian Hampden-Thompson

Shifting landscape Considerable growth in postgraduate numbers Increases in UG and PG fees (and debt) “the new frontier of widening participation… lack of access to postgraduate study is in danger of becoming a social mobility time-bomb” (Alan Milburn, 2012) Access to finance a significant barrier (OFFA)

What would equality look like? Take up of postgraduate study is… Consistent across graduates’ characteristics Trendless across graduates’ characteristics Associated with first degree attainment (meritocracy) We would expect variation across some characteristics, e.g. subject

Data ‘Understanding the Student’, Postgraduate Support Scheme, 2014-15 Who progresses (taught Master’s) Destinations of Leavers of Higher longitudinal survey (2008/9 and 2010/11) Who progresses (doctoral degrees)

Dataset 1 ‘Understanding the Student’, Postgraduate Support Scheme, 2014-15 Six research-intensive English HEIs Large scale survey of first-degree alumni (2009 and 2012) (n=2849) Analysis of application data (2013 and 2014) (n=42,888)

Dataset 2 Destinations of Leavers of Higher longitudinal survey 2008/9 and 2010/11 UK doctoral graduates Linked to Student Record - socio-demographic characteristics Response rate (n=4,731)

Progression to taught Master’s degrees

Some good news? Attainment 1st class or 2:1 more likely to progress to PGT and PGR

Some good news? Attainment 1st class or 2:1 more likely to progress to PGT and PGT Debt per se not a predictor of transition Higher debt (over 20k) associated with lower progression to PGR, but not when attainment and subject taken into account Access to finance more important  loans (see Wakeling, Hampden-Thompson & Hancock, forthcoming)

Parental HE NS-SEC POLAR

Average earnings With PGT - M: £25,500 F: £22,500 Without PGT - M: £22,500 F: £19,500

Applications to taught Master’s degrees

Applications 60 per cent Offers 60 per cent Enrolments

Doctoral degrees

Initial observations Equally split by gender ~70% aged <35 on entry Just over half have one or more parental HE Vast majority from state school Vast majority White British (~90%) 5.3% Asian; 1.2% Black

Initial observations Subject area 70% STEM; 19% AH; 11% SS Varies little by gender, parental higher education, or POLAR variance by institution type (Russell Group - 66.4% STEM, 53.4% AH, 45.6% SS) variance by age on entry (<50% of those aged 35 or over in STEM) variance by ethnicity (85.5% Asian in STEM)

Initial observations Highest qualification on entry ~50% enter with a first degree only ~40% enter from PGT NSSEC 4-8 more likely to transition directly (two-thirds)

Distributions by mission group

Further tentative findings Black students Less likely to enter from first degree only (and more likely to complete PGT) Higher proportions aged >35 or older Considerably lower proportions at Russell Group even within STEM (~44% compared to 65% of White British students studying STEM)

Reflections Persistent inequalities access & outcomes Diversity is on the agenda Loan scheme welcome Better data needed

References Boliver, V. (2013) ‘How fair is access to more prestigious UK universities?’, British Journal of Sociology, 64(2)344-64. Boliver, V. (2016) ‘Exploring ethnic inequalities in admission to Russell Group universities’, Sociology, 50(2), 247-66. OFFA (2016) The challenges of widening access to higher education. Accessed 6th March 2017 http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/uploads/2016/05/lesebdon.pdf Wakeling, P. (2008) ‘Are ethnic minorities underrepresented in UK postgraduate study?’ Higher Education Quarterly, 63(1), 86-111 Wakeling, P. and Hampden-Thompson, G. (2013) Transitions to Higher Degrees Across the UK: an analysis of national, institutional and individual differences. York: Higher Education Academy. Wakeling, P., Hancock, S., Hampden-Thompson, G., and Coxhead, A. (2015) ‘Understanding the Student: consortium research on taught postgraduate access and motivations’, in Strike, T and Toyne, J. (Eds.) Widening Access to Postgraduate Study and the Professions. University of Sheffield. Wakeling, P., Hampden-Thompson, G., and Hancock, S. ‘Is undergraduate debt an impediment to postgraduate enrolment in England?’ Forthcoming.