White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
When asked how well they thought that they ’ d fit in to university , it was noticeable that none of the participants in one of the 6 th form sessions ( FG3 ) were very confident . Several were neutral on it and several expressed reservations :
I don ’ t know anyone who ’ s gone . It could be welcoming but I ’ m from a council estate and I could feel out of place . It might be snobbish . I ’ ll probably stay at home and commute .
It depends on the situation – there ’ ll be different sorts of people and it may be hard to fit in .
I think I ’ ll fit in on the social side but it depends on my classmates . Basically I hold views that other people don ’ t like and it might make it difficult to stay . I ’ ve heard from friends that students with different political views e . g . about Brexit are really pushed away by professors and students .
Overall participants from the FE college were less positive as to whether university was open to all , although some were more neutral and one thought it was achievable ‘ if you put the time and effort in ’. Those who disagreed highlighted barriers relating to costs and grades needed . Several felt that HE was not equally accessible due to the sorts of people who were accepted . Those who disagreed suggested :
It ’ s not for the less fortunate . It ’ s if you have the money to do it . It ’ s about your background , your grades .
They don ’ t really accept all different sorts of people , so if you ’ ve gone through normal education that you haven ’ t paid for they don ’ t always accept them .
Survey respondents were also asked to rate their agreement with the statement that ‘ university is open to all ’. Overall approximately half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement but respondents from low participation neighbourhoods were more likely to agree than those in areas with higher HE participation ( a difference of 10 percentage points ). However , respondents were less likely to agree that they would enjoy being a university student , with 74 % of POLAR3 quintile 3-5 learners agreeing in contrast to 64 % of those in Q1 and Q2 .
Overall qualitative data suggests that younger learners were more likely to think university was open to all but that older learners were more concerned about their ability to get in and fit in . Survey respondents from low participation neighbourhoods were significantly less likely to agree they would enjoy being a HE student .
‘ I ’ m the sort of person that would go to university ’ Survey data suggests that overall approximately 60 % of respondents would agree that they are the sort of person that would go to university , although a quarter were unsure . Those in low participation neighbourhoods showing higher rates of agreement ( see figure 30 above ).
Focus group data confirms that males are relatively split in their response to this question . In the positioning exercise , Year 9 participants ( FG1 ) placed themselves fairly evenly between strongly agree , neutral and strongly disagree . Those who disagreed did so for various reasons :
Cause I ’ m dumb I don ’ t need a degree for what I want to do
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I can be but I don ’ t know if I want to go yet