White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
Portsmouth ’ s unemployment rates are higher than the regional average and most of the higher skilled jobs are taken by people that commute into the city for work . With high expectations for growth , Portsmouth will need to improve the opportunities for young people in education in order to meet the increasing demand for employment across the city . Portsmouth will need to raise aspirations and diversify the skills of the workforce in order to continue to strengthen the economy and ensure local people can make the most of new job opportunities that will arise in the city .
The 2011 census shows that the population of Southampton was approximately 236,900 , which is an increase of approximately 8.9 percent since 2001 ( Hampshire County Council , 2013 ). The population is approximately 50 percent male and 50 percent female , and 77.7 percent are estimated to be white British , with those in other ethnic groups increasing from 11.3 percent to 22.3 percent over the period from 2001 to 2011 . Census data shows that there has been a decline children aged 5-14 from 11.6 percent to 9.9 percent and the recent growth in the population has been in the working age groups , with the those aged 16-44s increasing by 12.4 percent ( Hampshire County Council , 2013 ).
According to the 2011 Census data , the city of Portsmouth included 205,056 residents . Among the residents , the gender ratio was nearly 50 / 50 ( men accounted for 50.3 percent of the population ) and approximately 88 percent of the population of Portsmouth were white ( ONS , 2011 ). Among the population of Portsmouth accounted for in the 2011 Census , 6,623 were ages 12-14 ( about 3 percent of the total population ), who would now be ages 17-19 , which is the traditional age for students to start an undergraduate course ( Office for National Statistics , 2011 ).
Capacity to build the skills base needed now and in the future is deemed locally as strong ( Solent LEP , 2016 ). The Solent area is home to three universities , the University of Southampton , Southampton Solent University and the University of Portsmouth , with the University of Winchester also within the county of Hampshire . Local higher education institutions work on a range of initiatives and programmes aimed at increasing the prosperity of the local area .
Aligned with the City Council ’ s strategic goals of encouraging more young people to pursue higher education , the University of Portsmouth is committed to recruiting more young people from the community , as highlighted within the University of Portsmouth Access Agreement ( University of Portsmouth , 2016a , p . 1 ):
Portsmouth continues to be a city with areas of significant deprivation and educational underachievement . Our commitment to aspiration-raising and widening participation is essential to the University ’ s future success and viability , and to that of the City . The latest HESA performance indicators , published in March 2015 , show our success in the key performance indicators selected in this Access Agreement ; we outperformed locallyadjusted benchmarks for each of our four main indicators , demonstrating our success in recruiting and retaining young and mature students from low participation neighbourhoods .
The university have pledged to increasing the number of undergraduates from low participation neighbourhoods , indicating that “ we aim to outperform our location-adjusted benchmark over the next five years ” ( University of Portsmouth , 2016a , p . 28 ) and have published the Education Strategy for 2016-2020 , which includes what it means to be a “ Portsmouth graduate ”, highlighting the strengths , qualities , and attributes that a Portsmouth student can expect to develop during the course of their studies ( University of Portsmouth , 2016 , p . 6 ):
Portsmouth graduates will be knowledgeable , informed , intellectually curious , responsible , self-aware and self-motivated , independent learners set for success in their future careers . We will support our students to acquire these Hallmarks of a Portsmouth Graduate through their engagement in courses that adhere to our strategic principles , and in the wider student experience .
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