White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
• White working class male learners need access to impartial information about HE opportunities , including the costs and the benefits to them as an individual and they need support to make this decision . Although outreach providers are well versed in the relative merits of HE , they perhaps need to think about how impartiality might be increased . They may also consider how best to support other influencers ( teachers , advisers , parents ) to understand the facts .
• Access to positive role models , for example through school / college Alumni networks , employer or student mentoring programmes and Student Ambassador schemes may offer learners examples of HE success that their more advantaged peers have ready access to .
• Young male learners are interested in experiencing HE in order to help them to assess whether it is the right option , they want to ‘ try before they buy ’. Opportunities for these learners to come onto campus on a regular basis , for example as part of their current studies or to take part in additional learning or leisure activities , would help demystify HE and build confidence that it is a viable route .
Post-entry : Findings from the post-entry data suggest that white , working class males consider the choice to pursue higher education a risk that may not be worth taking , which is aligned with the pre-entry findings , as well as with findings from previous studies focused on working class students ( Jones , 2016 ; Archer , Pratt , and Phillips , 2001 ; Reay , 2001 ; Archer and Hutchings , 2000 ). Focus group participants discussed the apprehensions they had while making the choice to apply to university as well as the reasons some of their peers ’ decided not to enter higher education . Finances was the biggest concern overall , including : the anxiety of taking on student debt ; the worry that , even with the maximum amount of student loans , they would not be able to afford basic living expenses while studying ; and the fear that they might not find gainful employment upon graduation . In addition to the financial risks , participants felt that it was risky to commit three years of their life to a university and / or to a degree programme that they may not enjoy or where they may not fit in . A number of participants also discussed the appeal of apprenticeships and full time employment as less risky choices in comparison to pursuing a university degree . Some participants also talked about parents who tried to discourage their student from choosing university . Based on these findings , it is recommended that outreach / recruitment / widening participation teams should :
62
• To reiterate from the pre-entry findings and suggestions , provide balanced information about higher education . Give prospective students an opportunity to speak candidly about their concerns . When it comes to recruitment and outreach , strike a balance between the glossy , perfectly-positive , marketing strategies and the down-to-earth , brutally honest advice a knowledgeable expert might provide to someone making a major life decision . It is three-years of their life and a significant amount of debt that we are asking them to devote to our university .
• Prove to them that the rewards outweigh the risks by providing university-specific or course-specific data about the benefits of pursuing a university degree and about their post-graduation employment prospects . While students have heard that graduates will earn higher salaries across their lifetime , on average , compared to non-graduates , some students are also aware of recent studies that have revealed that working class students were less likely to be employed in as high paying jobs as their middle class peers after graduation ( Ashley et . al . 2015 ; Wakeling and Savage , 2015 ).
• Create a panel of current students to review and provide feedback on your outreach / recruitment / widening participation strategies before they are implemented . Seek feedback and evaluations from prospective students about their experience at recruitment events and use that data to continue to refine your strategies ( often evaluations are collected without the feedback informing changes or improvements ).
• Provide concrete information for parents and schools in multiple forms so that they may help rather than hinder recruitment efforts . Consider developing a parents ’ panel to review and provide feedback on your outreach / recruitment / widening participation strategies and to user-test recruitment materials and webpages geared towards parents .