The gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers grows bigger at every stage of education.
It’s a challenge many of us at post-92s will be familiar with.
At the University of Greenwich, where I’m Vice-Chancellor, our students arrive both hungry to learn and ready to develop the skills that should see them thrive during their working lives.
I’m proud of how many go on to have successful careers. But I’m also aware that a fair few have to wait longer than they would like to find the right role for them.
Well over half our students – 59% – are the first in their families to go to university and many are from some of the most deprived parts of the country. This sometimes means they lack the cultural capital to navigate the graduate jobs market and either find themselves unable to break into their dream jobs or feel so uncomfortable once they’re in that they decide to leave.
These are the very students who would benefit most from placements and internships. Research has shown that under-represented students achieve more in their careers and at university if they have three months of meaningful employment during their degrees. But of course it costs more to extend their studies and many just can’t afford to do this.
Overcoming these barriers to job interviews, placements and internships is a challenge our sector must engage with. It’s not just a matter of fairness to under-represented students. A workplace that excludes them is one that is poorer as a result. We know that diverse workplaces have diverse ideas and that serves us all well.
I’m shocked at how slow progress has been to give under-represented students a greater chance in their professional lives. I believe that we need to start much earlier in terms of preparing young people for future employment. Ideally whilst they are still at school or college, but definitely from the moment they start at university.
This is very much a personal topic for me.
I was one of those under-represented students many years ago. I was the first in my family to go to university and the first to choose a career. My mum went to technical college and planned to be a secretary, determined to earn more than my grandparents had. But her ambitions came to an abrupt halt when I was just five and my dad died. We found ourselves with very little money.
University was such an alien concept to my grandparents that on my graduation day, they sent me a card congratulating me on my O-Level results. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the mentors and supporters I had during my student days and early career.
All this makes me doubly determined to ensure under-represented students succeed in the workplace. We owe it to society to ensure their as-yet untapped talents don’t go to waste
