Exploring socioeconomic inequalities and access to elite postgraduate education among English graduates

Abstract

A worldwide trend towards high levels of participation in higher education, paired with concerns about the post-university destinations of an increasing pool of graduates, have brought about two parallel phenomena: a process of sharp stratification in higher education and the growing relevance of postgraduate education as undergraduate study becomes nearly ubiquitous, particularly among the most advantaged groups of students. To date, the literature on socioeconomic inequalities and access to higher education has focussed on undergraduate education, with some researchers specifically investigating access to the most prestigious institutions. We contribute to this body of research by investigating the effects of socioeconomic characteristics on access to postgraduate education at those universities believed to deliver elite forms of higher education. We look at access to ‘elite’ postgraduate education among English graduates, operationalised as belonging to the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. We analyse an exceptionally large dataset (N = 533,885) capturing graduate destinations, including postgraduate education at specific institutions. We find that socioeconomic inequalities in attending an elite postgraduate degree persist, but these are mediated by educational variables. Socioeconomically advantaged students are more likely to attain a good degree and to attend an elite institution at the undergraduate level, which powerfully predicts access to elite postgraduate education.

Social Origin and Access to Top Occupations among the Highest Educated in the United Kingdom

“…Results from some recent studies, however, are more nuanced. Although they corroborate previous findings on substantial gaps by family background in entry to and types of graduate education, most of these gaps are explained by previous academic attainment or education received in school or university (Britton and van der Erve 2020; Mateos-González and Wakeling 2022; Scott 2020; Wakeling 2017). Similarly, the earnings premium for postgraduate degree holders is largely accounted for by previous attainments (Britton et al 2020).…”

Analyzing the Construction of University ELT Resource Base Using Cloud Platform

“…ompson proposed that the college English multimedia network teaching resource database should concentrate all elements in English teaching and become a network teaching platform integrating the functions of teaching content management and release, classroom teaching, online teaching evaluation, online teaching interaction, project-based collaborative learning, developmental teaching evaluation, and teaching management [13]. Mateos-González and Wakeling proposed that digital teaching resources refer to multimedia materials that have been digitized and can run on computers or networks [14]. Jindapitak proposed that for the two core driving forces to promote social, economic, and cultural development, the Internet and education will profoundly change the history and destiny of a nation.…”

Motivación para realizar estudios de posgrado: un modelo de probabilidad

“…Además, permite que tanto estudiantes como profesores tomen decisiones a largo plazo con respecto a sus metas profesionales, desempeño laboral, ética y desempeño potencial. En el estudio de White et al (2016) se llevó a cabo una crónica de 16 años (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) del programa innovador "Jackson Heart Study (JHS)". Este programa de becas está diseñado para proporcionar tutorías y asesoramiento para mantener la motivación de los estudiantes para continuar sus estudios superiores.…”

“…Otra de las variables que influye de manera positiva, es el de las becas como mecanismo de financiamiento, esto debido a que las personas que pueden acceder a este tipo de incentivo tienen una posibilidad 1.49 veces mayor de cursar un posgrado a diferencia de quienes no señalaron esta opción. Según lo anterior, Li y Bray (2007) concluyen que dentro de los factores económicos más importantes para que una persona decida estudiar un posgrado, está el acceso a becas. Otro aspecto significativo de esta variable es que, los estudiantes candidatos a posgrados, tienen una gran motivación para estudiar en el extranjero si hay disponibilidad de patrocinio (becas), pero, en ocasiones las personas no deciden tomar las becas o incluso las abandonan (en este caso púbicas), debido a la responsabilidad gubernamental que esto acarrea, lo cual puede darse en forma de pagar un crédito si no retorna al país de origen o país benefactor o también con el compromiso de trabajar en empresas estatales, que es el caso del fenómeno "fuga de cerebros" (Moreno, 2013).…”