White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
Focus group participants discussed what kinds of help might help young males to make informed decisions about whether to progress to university . Although many participants identified specific information needs ( for example entry requirements and costs ) many of the ideas and responses were about allowing learners to get a better understanding of what it is like to be a HE student and to experience the university environment . Contact with people ( students and employers ) was often suggested . Perhaps surprisingly , given the differences in prior understanding of HE as an option , responses across all of the focus groups were relatively similar and their responses can be broadly categorised as follows :
Real experience of HE
Contact with current students
Information about HE as an option
A tester week to experience what it ’ s like and not have to ‘ go in blind ’. The university could just pay someone to tell us it ’ s great , they could just lie – I ’ d prefer to go and see for myself , to see a lesson , where you live … To experience it first . Taster days at university where you are an actual student for a whole day . Have full on lessons so you know what it will actually be like . Find out how snobby the people are . Can we hear from students who come independently , not sent by the university , as they ’ ll be more honest ? Being able to interact with students in small groups so we can ask them questions and get the details from them . Hear from students – both those who think it ’ s good and those who don ’ t to balance it . Meet people from the same background University prospectuses , websites . Going to open days at universities . Make open days better – make them interactive , hands on and with more information about the courses not about the whole university . At the moment you ’ re going into a course that you don ’ t know much about . With A levels you ’ ve had years of doing GCSEs so you know exactly what you ’ re choosing but with universities it ’ s different . To know how the days are going to be . For someone to come in and talk to us about what it ’ s like – what the lessons are like , how you live , how you study . Knowing the grades needed . Start giving us information earlier as its thrown at you all together and it ’ s too much pressure . You need to know everything about it because it ’ s one of the biggest decisions of your life and you don ’ t want to get it wrong and be in debt after .
Information about costs Knowing how costs of uni are covered . Exact price of courses .
Advice about how individual learners might be supported
The cost , do you actually have to move into that house ? To have help from other people when you ’ re there – so you help each other out . Not to get bullied – to know there was an adult that you could go to if you were bullied .
Contact with employers Speak to those doing the job . Experience the job that you want to do by visiting a company or shadowing . Improve information on apprenticeships - whenever companies come in to give a talk they ’ re really competitive . They don ’ t treat you as a person ; It ’ s like a sales pitch . Speak to some businesses and find out what they recommend .
41