White Working Class Males in British HE 2016 - 2017 | Page 88

White Working Class Males in British Higher Education

Review of the design and methodology of this project was undertaken by members of the Marketing and Communications team and members of the Induction Working Group , which includes academic and support staff and elected student representatives . Additionally , the survey was reviewed and tested by current undergraduate students . Feedback from reviewers was vital in shaping the survey to be concise ( 15 minutes to complete ) and as accessible and user-friendly as possible .

Research Participants Participation in this study was limited to current undergraduate students at the University of Portsmouth , especially focused on first year students ( new starters ). For the survey , all current first year undergraduates who were new starters in Autumn 2016 ( n : 5775 ) were emailed the survey link . The University of Portsmouth Student Voice Group approved the distribution of the survey link to all first year undergraduates ( new starters ). Participation was encouraged through a prize draw incentive . Five winners were selected at random every day while the survey was open ( 140 prizes total ). The earlier a participant completed the survey , the higher their chances of winning a prize . As winners were selected randomly , participants could win more than once . Each winner received a £ 10 voucher . For the initial survey , the response rate we had hoped to achieve was a minimum of 10 percent . The survey was completed by 678 participants , so the actual response rate was 12 percent . The survey contained many conditional and routed questions which were dependent on a respondent ’ s answer to a previous question . This enabled a student to complete the survey in around 15 minutes on average .

For the purposes of this research , the survey data from the participants who identified as male , white , from the UK , first generation , traditional age students ( n : 97 ) were the focus . Their responses were analysed both as a group and in comparison to the larger survey population . The 97 respondents represented 20 % of all traditional age respondents and 62 % of respondents who identify as male , white , from the UK , and traditional age .

Focus group participants were recruited through email ( from the survey participants who indicate a willingness to participate ); through a flyer advertisement ; and through targeted social media posts . Focus group participation was encouraged through a £ 20 voucher for participation . For the focus groups , we had hoped to recruit 24 participants . However , we were only able to recruit 20 participants . While attempts were made to recruit second and third year students to participate in the focus groups , 19 out of 20 focus group participants were first year students while the remaining participant was a second year student . Focus group participants identified as male , white , from the UK , first generation , traditional age students .

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