When education isn’t enough: Labour market outcomes of ethnic minority graduates at elite universities Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Daniel Swain, Maria Pampaka, and Ojeaku Nwabuzo.

Background Interesting puzzle –Ethnic minorities tend to have high levels of qualifications –Yet performance on the labour market is marred by disadvantage How can we trace back the source of disadvantage? –Part of overall project Emphasis of importance of attending ‘good’ university for career prospects and the importance of social mobility (via education) as an avenue of success –What about ethnic minorities in elite universities? Those who ‘make it’

Aims Analyse the post-graduation outcomes of graduates from Russell Group (RG) Universities –6 months after graduation Compare the outcomes of graduates of ethnic minority backgrounds with their white peers –Does attending a RG university ‘equalises’ chances on the labour market? Or do we find similar inequalities?

Data Obtained from HESA Administrative data –Student records with information about origins (pre-university), degree characteristics, degree performance, and institutional characteristics Survey data –Destination of Leavers from the Higher Education Survey (DLHE) for employment outcomes High response rate (77%-79%) Graduates in the academic years 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 Sample: first undergraduate degree, not mature student at entry, UK domiciled, not distance learning students Sample size: 148,220

Variables Dependent variables Level of economic activity – Active/inactive due to study/other inactive; – Multinomial logistic regression Employment outcomes for the economically active – Professional employment, non- professional level employment; or unemployment; – Multinomial logistic regression Earnings of employed graduates. – Monthly earnings (midpoint) – Linear regression Independent variables & controls Ethnicity Age Degree class obtained (1 st ; 2.1, 2.2, 3 rd ) Course subject (based on the Joint Academic Coding System– including combined subjects) HE Institution attended Year of graduation/survey

Results

Conclusions Results suggest that: –Ethnic minority graduates are most often found studying 6 months after graduation Aside from Black Caribbean men, who tend to be more economically active –Two distinct paths for ethnic minorities who are economically active: that of being in professional work, or being unemployed. This holds even after controlling for performance during university and subject choice and shows consistent patterns across gender. ‘Free’ or ‘forced’ choice? –For those employed, however, earnings differences are not as marked. Some groups, such as the Indians and Black Africans, manage to have higher earnings than their White peers. There seem to be a distinct post-graduation path for ethnic minority graduates at elite universities, even when compared with their white peers –Impact on future labour market careers? –What types of responses are needed to avoid this ‘dual’ pathway?

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