Funding postgraduate study in the UK: issues of widening participation and sustainability – Evidence from the Widening Access to Postgraduate Study and the Professions project Paul WakelingSally Hancock Department of Education University of SRHE Postgraduate Issues Network seminar 24 April 2015, London

£9,000? Source: HEFCE website ( accessed 10 April 2015http://

Alan Milburn Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility and Child Poverty I think post-graduate education is a real time-bomb in terms of social mobility. Everyone agrees that nobody should be barred from undergraduate education because they can’t afford fees, and yet we completely accept this barrier when it comes to post-graduate education…More and more professional jobs require masters’ level education at entry level, and those from more disadvantaged backgrounds are clearly facing huge obstacles to get these qualifications. (Interview in Graduate Market Trends, Spring 2012, p. 4 )

“ The UK Commission for Employment and Skills estimates that by 2022…1 in 7 jobs [will] requir[e] postgraduate qualifications[…] “In order to secure the advanced levels of skills and knowledge attributable to postgraduate taught Master’s qualifications for the benefit of individuals, for society and the economy as a whole, the Government is intervening to stimulate the market and remove barriers to progression.” Postgraduate study is “becoming a new frontier in the battle to improve social mobility.”

Prior findings There are inequalities in postgraduate access by socio- economic group: – Income quintile (Lindley and Machin, 2013) – Neighbourhood (HEFCE, 2013) – Social class (Wakeling & Hampden-Thompson, 2013) – …and by gender and ethnicity (ibid.; Wakeling 2010) Conditional on being a graduate, inter-group differences are smaller than at UG level Subject, first-degree institution and degree classification are important, but we don’t know much about other factors

Sociological explanations/expectations As an education level expands, inequalities tend to ‘pass up’ to the next level – ‘Maximally maintained inequality’ (Raftery and Hout, 1993) The value of qualifications goes down the more popular they become – ‘Credential inflation’ (Collins, 1979; Wolf, 2002) The effect of background characteristics declines with each successive educational transition – ‘Declining background effects’ (Hansen, 1997 and others); but cf Torche (2011)

Source: HEFCE (2013), p. 17

Source: HEFCE (2013), p. 36

Our study Funded through HEFCE’s Postgraduate Support Scheme 2014/15 Six-university consortium; focus on taught postgraduate students; 10% PGT outside London Three main elements: First degree alumni survey (2009, 2012) Taught postgraduate student survey (2013/14, 2014/15) Taught postgraduate application data (2013 & 2014 intakes) UK-domiciled students only

Datasets nResponse rate Alumni survey (2009 & 2012) % Postgraduate student survey (2013/14, 2014/15) 3, % Application data (2013 & 2014 intakes) 40,000-

Postgraduate sample: key characteristics Taught Master’s degree (e.g. MA, MSc) Half are recent graduates Most are state educated, privately educated underrepresented in our sample ‘Good’ undergraduate degree (85% 2:1 or above) One or both parents with HE qualifications ~15% with dependent children

Caveat!

Influence of background on progression

Consortium alumni: progression to any kind of postgraduate study, by year of graduation and occupational social class Weighted to adjust for non-response bias. n=2,850; valid n=1,812. Includes graduates who previously completed or are currently enrolled on a postgraduate programme. Missing social class and category ‘Never worked and long-term unemployed’ excluded.

Consortium alumni: progression to postgraduate masters or research degree, by year of graduation and occupational social class Weighted to adjust for non-response bias. n=2,850; valid n=1,812. Includes graduates who previously completed or are currently enrolled on a postgraduate programme. Missing social class and category ‘Never worked and long-term unemployed’ excluded.

Consortium alumni: progression to any kind of postgraduate study, by year of graduation and type of secondary school attended Weighted to adjust for non-response bias. n=2,850; valid n=2,680. Includes graduates who previously completed or are currently enrolled on a postgraduate programme. Special schools, ‘other’, ‘prefer not to say’ and ‘don’t know’ excluded.

Progression to taught higher degrees by social class and institution type, 2001/02 – 2004/05 (graduates with ‘good’ degrees only) Source: HESA Student Record/DLHE 2001/02 – 2004/05

Consortium alumni: progression to postgraduate masters or research degree, by year of graduation and parents’ higher education Weighted to adjust for non-response bias. n=2,850; valid weighted n=2,741. Includes graduates who previously completed or are currently enrolled on a postgraduate programme.

Consortium alumni: progression to postgraduate masters or research degree, by year of graduation and gender Weighted to adjust for non-response bias. n=2,850; valid weighted n=2,554. Includes graduates who previously completed or are currently enrolled on a postgraduate programme.

Postgraduate sample: parental occupational social class

Parental occupational social class 50% of PSS scholars: no parent with HE qualification

Postgraduate funding: evidence of differences

Postgraduate sample: graduating debt

Postgraduate sample: repayable debt (2014)

Alumni sample: repayable debt 2014

Postgraduate sample: source of funding

Tuition fee funding by parental occupational social class

Living cost funding by parental occupational social class

Tuition fee funding by parental higher education

Living cost funding by parental higher education

Tuition fee funding by time since undergraduate degree

Living cost funding by time since undergraduate degree

Postgraduate motivations: evidence of differences

Motivations for undertaking postgraduate study

Motivations by PSS scholarship

Motivations by parental occupational social class

Motivations by parental higher education

Motivations by time since undergraduate degree

Concluding thoughts Overall – more similarities than differences? – In motivations – In funding – Across background – Across age/experience – (exceptions: parent education; Class > 2012; and the PSS scholars) Why?!

Concluding thoughts Three potential explanations? 1.HE is a great leveller – BUT: contradicted by larger datasets/longitudinal research (a bit) 2.Skewed sample

3.‘Unobserved heterogeneity’ – People in the same kinds of university are similar in ways we can’t/haven’t measured – And/or key variable is disposable assets? begs question of relationship between key WP characteristics: e.g. HRI vs NS-SEC vs POLAR3 Importance of wealth: cf Wakeling and Savage (forthcoming) Concluding thoughts

Next steps Subject differences Application and admissions Modelling debt and progression Career pathways ‘beyond graduation’ and ‘into postgraduate study’

References Collins, R. (1979). The Credential Society: an Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification. New York: Academic Press. Hansen, M. N. (1997). Social and economic inequality in the educational career: do the effects of social background characteristics decline? European Sociological Review, 13 (3), 305 – 321. HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) (2013) Trends in Transition from First Degree to Postgraduate Study: Qualifiers Between and Bristol: HEFCE. Lindley, J. and Machin, S. (2013) The Postgraduate Premium: Revisiting Trends in Social Mobility and Educational Inequalities in Britain and America. London: The Sutton Trust. Raftery, A. E. and Hout, M. (1993). Maximally maintained inequality: expansion, reform and opportunity in Irish higher education, 1921 – Sociology of Education, 66 (1), 41– 62. Torche, F. (2011) Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 117 (3): 763 – 807. Wakeling, P. (2009) Are ethnic minorities underrepresented in UK postgraduate study? Higher Education Quarterly, 63 (1): 86 – 111. Wakeling, P. and Hampden-Thompson, G. (2013) Transition to Higher Degrees Across the UK: an Analysis of National, Institutional and Individual Differences. York: Higher Education Academy. Wakeling, P. and Savage, M. (2015, forthcoming) Entry to elite positions and the stratification of higher education in Britain. Sociological Review. Wolf, A. (2002). Does Education Matter? Myths About Education and Economic Growth. London: Penguin Books.

Thank

Living cost funding by undergraduate degree class

Tuition fee funding by undergraduate degree class

Tuition fee funding by repayable debt

Living cost funding by repayable debt