White Working Class Males in British HE 2016 - 2017 | Page 35

White Working Class Males in British Higher Education

Independence / personal growth The chance to be my own person and move forward with life . Growing to be your own person , exploring new cultures and having fun . You get more knowledge – you learn more things about your course but also life . It would make you more mature , more independent .

Stress links to , like debt and time and travelling , it might all get on top of you and you end up with mental health problems . Competition for graduate jobs Lots of people have degrees ; it ’ s the normal thing to do . You might not get the job you want because of the competition . A degree is a good thing , but with fees of £ 9000 and the costs going up every year the stakes are high . What if you spend all those years , are in debt and you don ’ t get a job ?

Figure 31 : Positive and negative features of HE as identified by focus group participants

In addition to identifying general advantages and disadvantages of university , participants were asked to reflect on what they perceived to be the pros and cons of progressing on to HE for them as an individual . Analysis of their written comments shows that although many of the same issues were identified as in the group exercise , more participants started to identify concerns about the potential negative impact on their well-being and their ability to cope with the demands of becoming a HE student . There were also new disadvantages identified by some individuals that clustered around being independent , for example potential homelessness , not having enough food and having to travel .

There were differences between the focus groups , for example the younger learners were most concerned about being separated from their family and feeling unable to cope with living independently . Post 16 learners were most concerned about the financial implications , with those in the 6 th Form college more likely to say the costs were outweighed by the benefits . In terms of advantages vocational FE learners were less likely to emphasise access to a specific career , they tended to see university as a way of generally increasing their level of education and this probably relates to the fact that many of the participants felt that university was not necessary for the job they had in mind .

The most regularly identified advantages and disadvantages of university at an individual level were categorised as follows :

Sixth Form learners ( FG3 & FG4 )

FE College learners ( FG5 & FG6 )

1 . Increased level of education 2 . Be successful in life 3 . Better job prospects

1 . Independence and social life 2 . Access to better / chosen career 3 . Increased level of education

1 . Increased level of education 2 . Independence and social life 3 . A new opportunity

1 . Separation and loneliness 2 . Becoming independent 3 . Costs / debt

1 . Costs / debt 2 . Separation and loneliness = 3 . Coping with stress , pressures = 3 . Long term commitment 1 . Costs / debt 2 . Coping with stress , pressures 3 . Separation and loneliness Figure 32 : Categorisation of individual pros and cons identified by focus group participants

5.5 Perceptions of the alternatives

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Focus group participants were asked about their perceptions of the alternatives to university . The younger participants ( FG1 and FG2 ) had limited understanding of different routes available to them , particularly with regard to vocational or work based learning . Participants based within the 6 th Form were aware of apprenticeships and work based training and could see the benefit of learning and earning and getting a chance to try out an occupational area . However , most saw the biggest barrier as low pay and possibly limitations on the level of job you might be able to progress to .