A Closer Look at Higher Education Minority Ethnic Students and ...

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Executive SummaryThis report is about the influences on participation in highereducation (HE) of minority ethnic students, and theirachievements and transitions to the labour market. It presentsfindings from a multi-stranded study undertaken for theDepartment for Education and Skills (DfES).The scope of the research was broad, covering flows into, through,and out of undergraduate study in England. Much of the analysisfocuses on differences between individual minority ethnic groups(using the Census ethnicity categories in standard use inuniversity, college and employment statistics).The principal elements of the study were: a review of recentresearch literature, secondary analysis of national statistics, andnew research involving surveys of, and interviews with, a numberof target groups — potential, current and past students, parents,employers and others. It was undertaken in 2002-03, by a teambased at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and includedProfessor Tariq Modood from Bristol University.Key messagesA large number of detailed and complex messages emerge whichcan, in general terms, be summarised by the following:• Minority ethnic people are more likely to take HEqualifications than White people. The higher education initialparticipation rate (HEIPR) for minority ethnic groups inaggregate is considerably higher than the average, and theyrepresent a higher proportion of the graduate outputcompared to their share of the working population.• However, the minority ethnic population does notparticipate in HE in a uniform way. The individual minorityethnic group participation rates vary considerably overall, andtheir representation varies between universities, subjects,geographic regions, and courses. Also, the minority ethnicundergraduate student body is highly heterogeneous.Minority ethnic student groups have distinctly differentpersonal profiles (in terms of gender balance, average age atentry, highest entry qualification, socio-economic class profileand other personal characteristics).xiii
• A range of factors affect HE entry, but aspirations andexpectations of the value of, and benefits from, higherqualifications is a more significant positive ‘driver’ forminority ethnic than for White students, especially mostAsian groups. This combines with greater parental and familyinfluence to play a more significant role in encouraging HEparticipation among minority ethnic than White youngpeople, and also in choices of what and where to study in HE.• Though their HE initial participation rates are higher, allminority ethnic groups do not do as well in degreeperformance as White students on average. Even whenbackground and other variables known to affect class ofdegree are taken account of, they still do less well overall.• Significantly, they also do less well in the labour market,initially at least, than White graduates. They face moreproblems securing their preferred choice of jobs or careers.They are more likely to go on from degrees to further studyor training. All minority ethnic groups have higher initialunemployment levels than White graduates. Minority ethnicgraduates continue to be underrepresented in the graduateintakes of many large organisations.Main findingsHigh participationMinority ethnic groups comprise a higher share of theundergraduate population in England (16 per cent) than of theworking population (nine per cent). Their Higher Education InitialParticipation Rates (HEIPRs) vary from 39 to over 70 per cent, andall minority ethnic groups have a higher HEIPR than the Whitegroup (38 per cent). But when gender is also taken into account, itis only the female Bangladeshi participation rate that drops belowthat of both the White male and female groups, though the maleBlack Caribbean participation rate is only slightly higher than themale White participation rate. These participation rates should betreated with caution, however, as there are some uncertaintieswith the data used in the calculation that require furtherinvestigation (section 4.1). It is recommended that the Departmentundertakes more statistical analysis work here and takes theopportunity to use the newly released Census data to improve theassessment of the relative representation in HE of the variousminority ethnic groups.Very uneven distributionMinority ethnic students are clustered at certain universities,mostly post-92 universities in London. Their representation isvery high at a few, but very low at others (under ten per cent ataround half of the total) and mostly low in pre-92 universitiesxiv
Page 1 and 2: RESEARCHWhy the Difference?A Closer
Page 4: AcknowledgementsThe authors would l
Page 7: 5.3 Difficulties affecting academic
Page 13: • Black or Black British: Black C
Page 17 and 18: These are generalisations, and ther
Page 19 and 20: However, one year on, some (and par
Page 21 and 22: ecommendations are made (see Chapte
Page 23: xxii
Page 26 and 27: and colleges (for their HESA studen
Page 28 and 29: • A follow-up survey of 103 gradu
Page 30 and 31: survey. In total, 262 agreed to be
Page 32 and 33: there has been some dispersion over
Page 34: average economic returns to HE good
Page 37 and 38: London. 1 Many minority ethnic pupi
Page 39 and 40: 2.3 Different post-16 education cho
Page 41 and 42: data for Black groups shown in the
Page 43 and 44: students are, on average, older tha
Page 46 and 47: • ‘A’ level route: Fewer mino
Page 48 and 49: 3. Influences on Decision Making an
Page 50 and 51: what to expect at HE (and the diffe
Page 52 and 53: In our discussions with potential e
Page 54 and 55: Figure 3.1: Likelihood of students
Page 56 and 57: identified as being the most debt a
Page 58 and 59: less well (Pakistani, Bangladeshi,
Page 60 and 61: this is likely to vary between mino
Page 62 and 63: • Understanding better the effect
Page 64 and 65:
approximately 196,000 in 2001/02, w
Page 66 and 67:
Table 4.2: Higher Education Initial
Page 68 and 69:
• in terms of the percentage shar
Page 70 and 71:
mostly due to the popularity of nur
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• While the highest male particip
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• Those currently on courses lead
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mixed area, and having family exper
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qualification. How they (and their
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lower than the White figure (male a
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5. Student Progress and Experiences
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information on how these factors af
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(48 per cent), and Black Caribbean
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performed during their studies, alt
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affected by the different socio-eco
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‘I probably haven’t done that w
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5.7 SummaryThis chapter has shown t
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6. Output and AttainmentHere we foc
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However, if only first class degree
Page 101 and 102:
qualifications. It has also shown t
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available), study/IT facilities, wo
Page 105 and 106:
7. Transitions to the Labour Market
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confirmed by our potential student
Page 109 and 110:
Figure 7.1: Student plans after com
Page 111 and 112:
‘You get to the final year and yo
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Figure 7.2: Labour market success i
Page 115 and 116:
male and female minority ethnic stu
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Figure 7.3: Unemployment rates (%)
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with most of the rest slightly or r
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output are recruited straight away
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7.6.2 Satisfaction with jobThe smal
Page 125 and 126:
graduates opting to take these cour
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graduates. This may be mainly subje
Page 129 and 130:
expanded graduate supply and growth
Page 131 and 132:
A recent BIC survey was generally p
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obtained from them, therefore, refe
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It is also important to note, as ou
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marketing/publicity said they gave
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presenting an image of an organisat
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groups. One interviewee suggested t
Page 143 and 144:
Positive images and marketingThere
Page 145 and 146:
EvaluationWhile initiatives to wide
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• pre-recruitment activities in H
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ethnic students, there are some spe
Page 151 and 152:
do so at the traditional 18/19 age,
Page 153 and 154:
Policy implicationsThere are a numb
Page 155 and 156:
9.3 HE Participation and choicesMin
Page 157 and 158:
with higher concentrations of minor
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A further recommendation relates to
Page 161 and 162:
Issues of race relations and equal
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minority ethnic groups than White g
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there are some data reliability iss
Page 167 and 168:
BibliographyAdia E, Roberts D, Alle
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Department for Education and Skills
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Pollard E, Pearson R, Willison R, (
Page 173 and 174:
Table A1: Higher Education Initial
Page 175 and 176:
Table A3: Undergraduate White and m
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Table A5: White and minority ethnic
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Table A7: Socio-economic class (NS-
Page 181 and 182:
Table A9: Main problems or difficul
Page 183 and 184:
160 Why the Difference?Table A11: U
Page 185 and 186:
Table A13: Further study or trainin
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did not happen. In future, we recom
Page 189 and 190:
B.2.1 Survey approachA quantitative
Page 191 and 192:
ooster sample also included the ‘
Page 193 and 194:
was generally well matched except f
Page 195 and 196:
Table B4: Representative sample: ed
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174 Why the Difference?Table B6: Ed
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Two intra-survey mailings were unde
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Table B8: Graduate sample by main e
Page 203 and 204:
Table B10: Ethnic origin of parents
Page 205 and 206:
Table B12: Occupation of parents, b
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having good coverage of all minorit
Page 209 and 210:
Table B14: Sample profile by ethnic
Page 211 and 212:
than the UCAS accepted applicant po
Page 213 and 214:
they were tested for statistical si
Page 215 and 216:
‘enablers’ and ‘inhibitors’
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