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Social mobility in Britain has come to a halt – and a plethora of initiatives has done little to improve matters.
One positive sign, however, is that the new university tuition fee system has not deterred students from non-traditional backgrounds from entering higher education. At Aston University, over 40% of our undergraduates come from the four lowest socioeconomic groups. They are more likely to live at home, and more likely to benefit from a university scholarship, but they recognise the benefits of education in helping them progress to a professional career.
The regional picture is patchy. In the West Midlands, where Aston is based, only 35% of 18-year-olds go into higher education, against 48% in London. Lack of knowledge combined with lack of support and encouragement acts as a barrier.
Young people want a good job
Maybe in our drive to widen the catchment for university entrance, we are missing the bigger picture, which is that young people, in a challenging labour market filled with zero hours contracts and low wages, aren't so concerned about the means of delivery or the supposed status of a traditional degree.
They are focused on the end point – securing a good job in a professional sector. And surely helping them to reach that goal is a role that the university system is able to fulfill better than anyone? Perhaps in particular those institutions founded in the 1960s with the specific aim of promoting the advance of industry and commerce.
Social mobility needs a game changer. And I believe there is one that aligns with the aspirations of young people and the needs of employers. I think it can bring higher-level skills to a wider cohort of young people, and help them achieve good earnings. And it breaks down the divide between academic study and vocational training.
Higher apprenticeships, which are designed by employers and offer employment progression, looks like that game changer.
Apprenticeship numbers have risen, alongside a willingness among parents, schools and young people to consider the apprenticeship route as a way of nurturing a career. In a recent Guardian/YouGov survey 45% of parents said the apprenticeship route was a good one for their children and 32% felt that young people might be better off going straight into work than university.
But employers have struggled to develop their apprentices beyond the equivalent of A-levels. Apprenticeships have been seen as a craft route, with the implication that they are for the less intellectual. Universities and employers have not worked hard enough to embrace academic learning-with-earning as a model. It has been one or the other.
Politicians have lauded apprenticeships, while permitting a proliferation of complex frameworks, a patchwork of continuous assessment, an absence of grading and independent assessment and low parity of esteem.
Employers in the driving seat
Since the Richard Review, which put employers in the driving seat of delivering top-quality apprenticeship programmes with higher expectations of both funders and learners, some universities have started to see higher apprenticeships as an opportunity to grow and realise a new income stream, while strengthening further relationships with business. A new source of students – and a way of meeting widening participation targets. It has an obvious appeal.
The idea of learning and earning at the same time, however, is a difficult concept – a tough commitment for those choosing this path, and a challenge for those supporting their learning, requiring flexibility from employers and academics. Our longstanding Aston placement year, where students spend time as employees of a company, has helped inform our thinking as we launch two degree programmes in partnership with the IT services company Capgemini.
The students will study for the degrees over five years, based at Capgemini. At the end of the first two years, they will have completed a higher apprenticeship, which is equivalent to the first year of a degree programme. In the remaining three years, they will complete a BSc degree in either information systems management or computer science.
A debt-free alternative
So what is holding universities back from introducing degree programmes that allow students to study and work at the same time?
Some may be concerned that employer engagement implies a loss of academic control, or that more flexible delivery approaches will require teaching outside normal academic terms. They may be sceptical about whether students can, in two years, reach a level equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate programme.
All these concerns can be overcome with effective partnerships with companies and innovative approaches to teaching.
Perhaps there is also a view that young people deserve the opportunity that many of us benefited from, of three years mostly funded by the taxpayer to study, grow up and enjoy the full immersion university experience. But life is already very different for students today. Many of our full-time students at Aston have to work part-time to fund their degrees, often in poorly-paid jobs. Many more are worried about the cost of their studies and the impact this will have on their lives post-graduation.
For universities that choose not to engage, however elite their reputation, danger could lie ahead. If the degree programmes offered by Aston and others are popular, what is to stop students in large numbers considering this route instead of the traditional undergraduate route to employment?
It is likely to be debt-free, and offers guaranteed employability. For many students, especially from widening participation backgrounds, this will be a compelling proposition.
Julia King is vice-chancellor of Aston University.
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