How to widen access to
postgraduate study
NEON Access Academy
NCVO, London
9 December 2016
Paul Wakeling [email protected]
@pbjwakeling
@NEONHE
#AccessAcademy
WiFi: NCVO-Delegate
Password: charle5dicken5
1
Welcome!
2
Outline of the day
Now: Setting the scene
11.30 Tea/coffee
11.45 Evidence on access
13.00 Lunch
13.45 What can we do about postgraduate access?
15.00 Break
15.15 What are you going to do about it?
16.00 Close
3
Outline
1. Why be concerned about postgraduate access?
2. Evidence on postgraduate access
• From research
• From the Postgraduate Support Scheme
3. What do we mean by ‘widening participation’ at postgraduate level?
4. What to do?
4
Crowdsourcing
Finding out about postgraduate
education from your fellow
delegates!
5
1. Setting the scene
Why be concerned about postgraduate access
and widening participation?
6
UK Student numbers, 1960 – 2014 by level, with per cent postgraduate Notes: Statistics provide at ten-year intervals 1960 – 2010, then for 2014. Sources: 1960 – 1990 – Wakeling (2009) Social Class and Access
to Postgraduate Study in the UK: a Sociological Analysis. PhD thesis, University of Manchester. 2000 – 2014 – Higher Education Statistics
Agency (www.hesa.ac.uk); 1960 to 1990 includes non-UK students; 2000 onwards UK-domiciled students only 7
6.7
5.5
7.4
10.0
19.2
18.1
18.2
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Nu
mb
er o
f st
ud
ents
Year
Undergraduate Postgraduate
Postgraduate growth
• International growth of postgraduate numbers (Clarke
and Lunt, 2014; Morgan, 2014; Wakeling, 2010)
• UK
• US
• Australia
• China
• ‘Postgraduate premium’(Lindley and Machin, 2013;
Triventi, 2013; Wakeling and Savage, 2015)
• Wages
• Employment/occupation
• ‘Fit’/skills
8
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
PG research UK PG research EU & International
Taught masters UK Taught masters EU & International
Other PG UK Other PG EU & International
UK PG numbers tailing off?
UK interest in postgraduate access
10
£9,000
Why should we care?
3 reasons:
1. Economic benefit – overall participation (some subjects more than others)
2. Waste of talent – cf. Andy Murray on UK tennis and the LTA
– Diversity and its knowledge dividend (esp. PhD entry)
3. Social justice
Institutional enlightened self-interest?
11
Alan Milburn [UK] Independent Reviewer
on Social Mobility and Child
Poverty
I think post-graduate education is a real
time-bomb in terms of social mobility. (Interview in Graduate Market Trends, Spring 2012, p. 4)
Postgraduate study is
“becoming a new frontier in the
battle to improve social mobility.”
12
13
Postgraduates
in the
English HERB
Some policy action (England)
• £25M programme funded by HEFCE 2014-15
– 20 projects in 40 universities
– Investigate funding, innovation, employability, access
– Full report: Wakeling (2015)
• £50M scholarships 2015/16
– 10,000 for £10,000
– Currently being evaluated
• Masters (+PhD) loan scheme from 2016/17
– Opportunity…or full stop?
14
Some policy action (Wales)
• Diamond review recommended: – extension of UG funding system to masters
– 150 Welsh PGR scholarships in Wales
• Welsh government response: – Accept PGR scholarships (plus add PGR
loans)
– Provide portable means-tested fee/maintenance support (as UG) but no fee regulation
– New system to be introduced in 2018/19
15
Some theory
David P. Baker
Penn State University
“Education’s mastery of
social mobility” (2011, p.24)
Maximally Maintained Inequality
• Raftery & Hout (1993): – Expansion of educational opportunities at one
educational level has led to…
– …reduction in educational inequalities at that level (saturation) which has led to…
– …increase in educational inequalities at the next level
• Responses: – Various studies challenge the saturation hypothesis
– Declining background effects (Mare 1981; Hansen, 1997); but cf Torche (2011)
Randall Collins: credential inflation
• Credential inflation = value of qualifications goes
down as more people obtain them
• Argues education has grown through social
closure, not technical requirements of the
economy
• See also Alison Wolf (2002): the ‘tyranny of
numbers’
MMI in UK PG?
19
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
63 to 69 year olds 53 to 62 year olds 43 to 52 year olds 33 to 42 year olds 25 to 32 year olds
Higher mgr & prof Lower mgr & prof Intermediate Routine & semi-routine
Per cent of first-degree graduates holding a postgraduate degree by age group and social class origin Source: Wakeling & Laurison (forthcoming)
Running up the down escalator?
• Paradox: continued
educational
inequalities
• Expansion of higher
education has not
increased overall
social mobility
Escalator analogy from Patrick Ainley, University of Greenwich
Advantaged
groups
Disadvantaged
groups
Meritocracy and inequality
21
What does it mean for your institution?
In discussion with those on your table, consider:
• What is the position of postgraduate study in your university? – Taught/research
– Home/international
– Rationale for growth
• Are postgraduates part of your widening participation strategy? Are they included in your OFFA Access Agreement?
• Which senior manager/office is responsible for postgraduate policy?
22
PGT complexity
Level, discipline, student/programme intentions, industry
23
Level of study
24
PGR PGT Other PG
Part-time ≈30% ≈60% ≈70%
UK-domiciled 60% 54% 92%
Self-funded (UK) 37% 72% 43%
High tariff HEIs 66% 37% 24%
Largest subject Biological sciences Business & administrative studies
Education
Enrolments 94,645 282,905 123,785
Source: HEFCE (2013a, Figure 10, p.36)
25
Source: HEFCE (2013a, Figure 10, p.36)
Subject discipline
26
98.3
96.9
94.0
92.3
94.1
90.6
93.2
90.8
90.5
86.9
88.8
88.6
82.8
86.5
86.5
73.3
81.7
84.9
83.4
80.9
88.2
1.5
3.0
4.3
5.6
5.7
6.4
6.5
9.0
9.1
9.5
10.7
11.1
12.0
12.5
12.7
13.8
14.0
14.2
15.4
17.4
9.8
0.2
0.2
1.7
2.1
0.2
3.0
0.3
0.2
0.4
3.7
0.5
0.3
5.2
1.0
0.8
12.9
4.3
0.9
1.3
1.6
2.0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Medicine & DentistryEducation
Subjects Allied to MedicineAgriculture and Veterinary
Mass Communications & DocumentationTechnology
Creative Arts & DesignBusiness & Administrative Studies
Architecture, Building and ConstructionMathematical and Computing Sciences
LawCombined
EngineeringEuropean Languages, Literature
Social StudiesPhysical Sciences
Biological SciencesEastern, Asiatic, African Languages
Linguistics, Classics and Ancient LanguagesHistorical & Philosopical Studies
Total
Did not progress to Postgraduate study Progressed to Postgraduate Taught Progressed to Postgraduate Research
UK-domiciled first-degree graduates 2009/10 – 2010/11
Source: Wakeling & Hampden-Thompson (2013, Figure 5.3, p.18)
27
Taken from Wakeling (2009, p.124)
Funding arrangements
• Like undergraduates: PGCE
• Mainly scholarships: PhD
• Mainly self-funded: masters (but…)
• Mix of employer/self: Other PG
• Masters loans – Government scheme in England (!)
– Crowded out others (PCDL, Durham credit union, Metrobank etc)
28
29
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
Nu
mb
er
of
full-
tim
e s
tud
en
ts
Subject discipline (HESA JACS)
Non-EU EU UK
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
Nu
mb
er
of
full-
tim
e s
tud
en
ts
Subject discipline (HESA JACS)
Non-EU EU UK
PG
R
PG
T
Student intentions
• MBA vs MA Local History
• PhD vs PGCE
• Age: 22 vs 26 vs 35 vs 55
• Full-time/part-time (employed/not?)
30
Institutional patterns
31
Source: Wakeling & Hampden-Thompson (2013, Figure 7.1 p.36)
Institutional profiles
• There are five postgraduate profiles and five different
institution names
• Can you match each institution to its profile?
• Which one fits your institution?
• What do you think this profile means for widening
participation to postgraduate study in your institution?
All statistics are from HESA Student Record 2014/15, except for progression to PG study which is from HESA DLHE 2009/10 – 2010/11
32
Tea/coffee break
33
Institutional profiles
• There are five postgraduate profiles and five different
institution names
• Can you match each institution to its profile?
• Which one fits your institution?
• What do you think this means for widening
participation to postgraduate study in your
institution?
34
2. Evidence on postgraduate access Findings from research
35
What inequalities are there?
• Looking at UK-domiciled students now
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Socio-economic background – Social class
– Postcode
– Parental education
36
Gender
37
Source: HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions (1994/95 – 2013/14) UK-domiciled students/qualifiers only
Ethnicity
39
Ethnicity Progressed to PGT Progressed to PGR
White 8.5 2.0
Black Caribbean 5.2 0.3
Black African 13.5 0.9
Black Other 9.1 0.4
Indian 8.8 0.8
Pakistani 8.9 0.5
Bangladeshi 7.3 0.4
Chinese 15.0 2.9
Asian Other 13.5 1.8
Other, inc. mixed 11.1 1.7
Unknown 11.0 2.8
Percentage of first degree qualifiers by progression to taught
higher and research degree by selected background
characteristics
Taken from: Wakeling, P. & Hampden-Thompson, G. (2013) Transition to higher degrees across
the UK: an analysis of national, institutional and individual differences. York: The Higher
Education Academy. (Source: HESA Student Record and DLHE 2011-12)
41
Source: Wakeling (2009), Figure 2, p. 96. Refers to 2004/05.
Socio-economic
background
42
43
(a) Taught higher degree - men (b) Taught higher degree - women
(c) Higher degree by research - men (d) Higher degree by research - women
UK-domiciled graduates’ rates of immediate progression to higher degrees by social
class and gender, 2001/02 – 2009/10 Source: HESA First Destinations Survey 2001/02 – 2002/03; Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2003/04 – 2004/05
& 2009/10 – 2010/11.
Source: HEFCE (2013b) Trends in transition from first degree to postgraduate study: qualifiers
between 2002-03 and 2010-11. Bristol: HEFCE, p. 36.
First-degree alumni progression to taught postgraduate masters degree at six research intensive English universities, by various measures of socio-economic background
Notes: based on sample survey of UK-domiciled first-degree alumni from 2009 and 2012 at Universities of Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Warwick and York. n = 2,849 (the Pathways Beyond Graduation survey). No controls. Chart taken from Wakeling et al. (2015). 45
Summary of differences so far
• Gender differences, but mainly PGR
• Ethnic inequalities
– complex by group and type of study
• Socio-economic background differences
– Persistent over time
– Less stark than in UG entry
46
Why the differences?
• In pairs, try to think of as many reasons for these inequalities as you can
• You might want to draw on:
– What you know from UG WP
– Experiences in your institution
• Write your reasons on post-it notes
– 1 post-it for each separate reason
47
Academic factors
48
49
Rate of progression by UK-domiciled first-degree graduates to taught
higher degree, by social class and first-degree classification, 2009/10 –
2010/11 Source: HESA Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2009/10 – 2010/11.
50
Rate of progression by UK-domiciled first-degree graduates to taught
higher degree, by social class and first-degree institution type, 2009/10 –
2010/11 Source: HESA Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2009/10 – 2010/11.
Taken from: Wakeling, P. & Hampden-Thompson, G. (2013) Transition to higher degrees across
the UK: an analysis of national, institutional and individual differences. York: The Higher
Education Academy.
52
Selected odds ratios from logistic regression model to predict progression to taught higher degree by UK-domiciled first-degree graduates 2009/10 – 2010/11
Motivations and
aspiration
53
Motivations/aspirations
1. A long-held intention, from early undergraduate study or before (relatively unusual);
2. Not knowing what else to do;
3. Having an idea for a career but being unable to find a suitable – or indeed any – job;
4. Being in a career and wishing either to change track or to accelerate progression on the current track.
(Source: Wakeling et al., 2015 – qualitative study undertaken by CRAC of 2009 and 2012 graduates from Leeds/Manchester/Newcastle/Sheffield/Warwick/York, n=120)
54
Motivations (PGT)
55
Motivation for enrolling in postgraduate study (Pathways to Postgraduate Study survey) Source: Wakeling et al. (2015) Figure 8.4 –based on survey of alumni
Intention/actuality
Social class
background (NS-
SEC 3-class
scheme)
Taught postgraduate Master’s study: intention and outcome Realised intention Did not realise intention No intention but entered
further study
No intention and no
further study
Managerial and
professional
occupations
7.9% 26.7% 5.9% 59.5%
Intermediate
occupations 6.1% 28.2% 4.0% 61.6%
Routine and manual
occupations 6.1% 31.9% 3.9% 58.2%
56
Futuretrack Wave IV respondents, UK domiciled graduates, undergraduate study in England, excl. Medicine and Dentistry, excl. Colleges and Specialist HEIs, full-time student at Wave II, N=4,988.
Intention for taught Master's study vs. outcome by socio-economic class background Source: Wakeling et al. (2015)
(Similar results from HEFCE’s analysis of NSS IAGS)
Barriers
57
Reasons for not enrolling in postgraduate study
Source: Wakeling et al. (2015), Figure 8.5. (All following figures in this session are same source)
Material factors
58
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
North of Englandundergraduate
Midlandsundergraduate
South West orEastern Englandundergraduate
London or SouthEast undergraduate
Taught Master's in London or South East
Taught Master's in South West or EasternEngland
Taught Master's in Midlands
Taught Master's in North of England
Futuretrack Wave IV respondents, UK domiciled graduates, undergraduate study in England, excl. Medicine and Dentistry, excl.
Colleges and Specialist HEIs, engaged in Taught Master’s study, TM study location known, N=1,170.
NB Light orange cell colour indicates 10<N<30.
The broad geographical mobility of Taught Master’s students in England
• London ‘brain gain’
• Geography of opportunities (e.g. CDTs)
• Staying at home?
Geography and opportunity
Funding
60
Source of postgraduates’ tuition fee funding by social class
Source of postgraduates’ funding for living costs by social class
Debt
61
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
None
<£4,999
£5,000-£9,999
£10,000-£14,999
£15,000-£19,999
£20,000-£24,999
£25,000-£29,999
Over £30,000
Prefer not to say
Don't know
Per cent of postgraduates
Re
pa
ya
ble
de
bt
All
2014/15
2013/14
Current debt levels of taught postgraduates
Doctoral study
• Qualitative interviews with 53 PhD students and non-participants
• Cost a disincentive; debt not so much
– Especially at masters level
• Availability of funding crucial for PhD:
– signals “you’re good enough”
– and obviously pays for the course!
62
To think about
over lunch
3. What can be done about it?
Evidence from the Postgraduate Support Scheme and elsewhere
64
What are others doing?
• Erm….
– Not much!
• Mellors-Bourne et al (2016) found very little PG WP practice
– Even in departments which were successful on paper
• Doctoral diversity and US summer programmes
65
“to ensure that taught postgraduate education:
• “is accessible to the most capable students regardless of their
background, thereby maximising its contribution to social mobility
and the diversity of the professions, including the higher education
profession
• “continues to be a successful and sustainable sector at the heart of
higher education teaching, research and knowledge exchange,
thereby supplying the highest level of skills and knowledge to
industry, the professions and public services, and attracting students
from around the world.”
(HEFCE CL18/2013, p. 2)
Postgraduate Support Scheme: purpose
66
The portfolio
• 20 projects supported, £25M (+50% match)
– at least one in each English region
– 9 in London
– Biggest in the whole world ever?
• Varying sizes (consortia, some small single institution
projects); £3M max
• 6 Russell Group; 5 post-1992; 4 small/specialist
• ~2,000 studentships/awards
67
Placements and
internships Widening participation
Scholarships
Employability
Loans
Innovation in
academic
programmes
Mentoring,
information
advice and
guidance
PGT >
PGR
Engineering
Shortage
subjects
Entrepreneur
-
ship
Themes
68
Two overarching
messages from PSS:
1. Funding helps.
2. More than funding is
needed.
Headlines
69
• Range of shapes and sizes of award
• Generally oversubcribed: latent and frustrated demand
• Student views: finance essential – Or for some projects key factor
– Studying at all vs. studying better (PT work)
Funding and finance
70
• Size of award: – Generous ones all did well
– Partial funding: good enough…for some
• General, simple schemes worked best
• Debt, fee levels
• To address financial advantage, assess financial disadvantage (how?)
Funding and finance
71
What do we mean by
‘widening participation’ at postgraduate level?
72
• Enthuse
• Inform
• Monitor
• Demystify
• Support
• Monitor
• Finance
• Mentor
• Advise
Background
characteristics
Financial means
73
The formula?
74
GOOD ADVICEa
+
ATTAINMENTb
+
FUNDINGc
=
ENTRY TO
POSTGRADUATE
STUDY
Measures
• Monitor aspiration; attainment; discrimination;
application; choice:
– Gender
– Ethnicity
– First degree institution
– Socio-economic class (?)
– Parental education
• Means test (material)
75
• Competition a barrier to IAG/ outreach/inreach
• No national application system
• Message to stakeholders about PGT atomised
• Examples of successful
collaboration/
co-operation in PSS
Admissions and ‘co-opetition’
76
• PSS has raised the profile of PGT, within institutions – …but 2014 PG=1997 UG?
• Frequently no institutional ‘location’ or policy
• Monitor data
• How to keep it going?
Visibility and momentum
PGT 77
You are the committee!
• You have one full course tuition fees and living costs studentship to award
• You have a shortlist of five candidates
• The university has stipluated the award should be made
“to attract talented students who may be underrepresented at postgraduate
level and who may not otherwise be able to participate”
• On your table, decide who will get the award and why
78
Interventions
79
• Inreach – IAG to our own undergraduates
• Outreach (trickier?)
• SPA for PGT (and a national application
system?)
• Money
– (my view: national system needed)
Tea/coffee break
80
4. What are you going to
do about it?
81
Key points from the day
82
• PG WP: the issue and why we should care; PG complexity
• Patterns and inequalities of access to PG
• Causes and solutions
• Plans of action: taking it back to the office
• Your final observations?
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and Mobility, 29 (1): 5-29
Clarke, G. and Lunt, I. (2014) International comparisons in postgraduate education: quality, access and employment outcomes. Bristol: Higher Education Funding
Council for England.
Hansen, M. N. (1997). Social and economic inequality in the educational career: do the effects of social background characteristics decline? European Sociological
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62
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83
