White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
For white working class children , their lower educational outcomes in school have been previously overlooked , as Demie and Lewis ( 2011 , p . 263 ) found within their research :
The worryingly low-achievement levels of many white working class pupils have been masked by the success of middle class white children in the English school system . … The root causes of underachievement have also been identified within factors such as low-literacy levels , feelings of marginalisation within the community , low level of parental education and lack of targeted support to raise achievement and to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage , a legacy of low aspiration and a disinterest in learning that prevents pupils from fulfilling their potential across a range of areas .
The reasons for lower academic achievements among working class white pupils are challenging and complex . In addition to the success of middle class white children overshadowing the systemic underachievement of their working class white peers , the achievements of female white working class students could be obscuring the lower attainment of their male white working class peers .
It is however argued that differences in educational attainment alone cannot fully explain the differences between HE progression rates of white British working class young men and their peers . There is evidence that even where attainment is high , those from a lower socio economic background are less likely to progress ( Marshall , 2002 ) and it is argued that in the United Kingdom , young peoples ’ futures are still largely determined by their background rather than by their academic aptitude . As Ball ( 2010 , p . 157 ) explained , “ The UK remains low in the international rankings of social mobility when compared with other advanced nations . Parental background continues to exert a very powerful influence on the academic progress of children ”.
Aspirations There is significant evidence that young people from lower socio economic backgrounds are less likely to aspire to higher education and there is a suggestion that low parental aspirations , or at least low parental expectations , influence the aspirations of young people . Goodman and Gregg ( 2010 ), as reported by Baars et al ( 2016 ), found that ‘ 37 % of low-SES mothers wanted their 9-year-old to go to university compared to 81 % of high-SES mothers .’ Furthermore , Strand ( 2014 ) suggests that white pupil ’ s lower aspirations ( when compared to ethnic minority groups ) were likely to be contributing to their lower HE participation rates . However , recent work ( Stahl , 2016 ) suggests identifying poverty of aspiration as a cause of under-representation in HE is an inadequate and overly simple approach to a complex issue , with the suggestion that a greater understanding of how this group constructs their identity is required .
Perceptions of HE It is argued that white working class males may hold more negative perceptions of HE compared to their peers . In their review of recent literature Baars et al ( 2016 ) identify a range of evidence that suggests working class students and males in particular have a more negative and potentially less accurate picture of HE than their more advantaged peers . There is also a suggestion that higher education is ‘ incompatible ’ with working class culture and in some instances may be associated with ‘ femininity ’. It is further suggested that , for working class students , higher education is perceived potentially as a risk rather than ‘ a natural step on their pathway to professional level work ’ ( HEA , 2011 ).
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Costs and benefits The year tuition fees increased to £ 9,000 , “ the percentage of state-educated pupils going on to universities and colleges in 2013 / 14 fell to 62 %” ( O ’ Carroll and Fishwick , 2016 ). As Jones stated ( 2016 ): “ The 2012 rise in student fees , from £ 3375 to £ 9000 per year , made England one of the costliest places to attend university in the world ”. Recent research suggests that academically promising young people from working class backgrounds may be more “ debt averse ” and less likely to see the value of attending university ( Jones , 2016 ). “ Public discourse assumptions that lifestyle gains , identity gains and enhanced future earnings will outweigh the deferred price of participation may not always hold ” for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds ( Jones , 2016 , p . 290 ). As Giroux ( 2002 , p . 445 ) wrote :