1. Muslims, higher education, and the broken promise of social mobility
Professor Jacqueline Stevenson
Sheffield Institute of Education
Sheffield Hallam University
ProfJStevenson

2. Focus of presentation
Social mobility: academic success is reflected in employment outcomes
Differential academic outcomes
Access, retention and success: ethnic penalties
Intersectionality: ethnicity and religion
Social mobility
Which groups make gains from education to employment
Which are the least socially mobile
Focus on ethnicity sufficient?

3. Differential performance: ethnicity
A White British vulnerability to school underperformance
Lowest performing groups at school
The socio-economic attainment gap is largest amongst White British pupils at all Key Stages
Disadvantaged young people from White British backgrounds = least likely to access HE
A Black penalty in secondary school
Despite starting school ahead with performance largely in line with national averages, Black children fail to show this advantage higher up the age range
At Key Stage 5, Black pupils = ethnic group with lowest outcomes

4. Differential performance: ethnicity
Bangladeshi and Pakistani gains
Performance has improved at a more rapid rate than other ethnic groups at almost every key stage of education
Almost half of Bangladeshi and over a third of Pakistani young people from the poorest quintile go to university.
Shaw, B., Menzies, L. et al (2016) Ethnicity, Gender and Social Mobility; London: Social Mobility Commission

5. So who is socially mobile?
Social Mobility Commission - tested the premise behind the attention given to the low educational attainment of White British boys.
when it comes to the transition from education to employment, this group are less likely to be unemployed and to face social immobility than their female counterparts, black students and young Asian Muslims.
‘Broken social mobility promise’ - educational attainment not translating to labour market outcomes
Muslims are on average less likely to translate graduate qualifications into employment with matched status and pay
Particular issue for Asian Muslims

6. Social immobility & Muslims
Bangladeshi and Pakistani gains
BUT
Muslim students are, almost exclusively, also BME students, ipso facto, their attainment is invariably below that of White students
Muslims have lowest employment rate at 47.2%
Only 16% in managerial/professional roles; despite being over-represented in HE
Gender/Religion:
65% of economically inactive Muslims are women
71% more likely than white Christian women to be unemployed, even when they have the same educational level and language skills

7. Causes? Casey Review McGregor-Smith report
limited labour market opportunities for Muslims, notably for Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups
McGregor-Smith report
Racism, discrimination and bias faced by those from BME backgrounds at all stages of their employment/careers
Increasing degree attainment ( 1st/2:1) - national imperative
74.5 applications were received for every graduate recruited in (AGR, 2105)
Top employers screen out lower-performing applicants: 70% of graduate employers demand at least a 2:1 degree.
Plus, gaining 1st/2:1 -prerequisite for PG study

8. Current project Research fro social mobility commission
Happy for me to use your reflections?
Please say if not!!

9. Questions
Is it sufficient to consider religion as part of considerations relating to ethnicity (e.g. the BME attainment gap) or should the two be considered separately?
Should higher education, as a largely a secular space, go 'beyond compliance' or should we limit considerations of religion solely to the fulfilment of legislative responsibilities?
Should Muslim students be singled out for support? Or will this simply exacerbate the current perception of Muslims as 'other'?
Should Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls - who experience the least social mobility of all groups - be the focus of HE intervention? And if so does the focus on ethnicity simply mask the fact that this is an issue pertaining to Muslim social immobility?