The universities minister, David Willetts, recently argued that higher education institutions marginalised 'white working class' males in their selection process, suggesting that admissions offices should approach such people using the same initiatives offered to disadvantaged ethnic minority students.
Amiable as his intentions might have been, Mr. Willetts has displayed a remarkable degree of naivety, both in his assessment of class in contemporary Britain, and the societal function of universities. His comments are also surprising, considering the minister's previous commitment to allowing universities greater autonomy over their operations, away from the temptations of top-down government interference.
Much of Willett's statement, and subsequent article in the Independent, responded toward recently released figures noting a 6.3% decline in UCAS applications since last year. Statistically, such a decline is concentrated from students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who are less inclined to consider the higher education option. Indeed, much of this has to do with the accumulation of debt- which regardless of structural changes, places a debt burden of over £25,000 on students taking on a three year course. For students from poorer backgrounds, this in itself acts as a primary deterrent.
However, the underrepresentation of white working class students isn't simply a monetary issue. In 2008, the National Audit Office published a report which showed that a £392 million investment drive between 2001 and 2008 to encourage such students to attend university had failed to produce its desired results, seeing only a 2% increase in applications from such students.
What Mr. Willetts seems to be missing, is that the relationship between white working class communities and universities, still finds itself poised within rigid systems of class.
The academic sociologist, Louise Archer, noted in 2005 that perceptions of education and employment are imbedded within the histories of class groups, and are therefore valued through a cultural measure. In this case, while it is common for students from affluent or middle-class backgrounds to regard universities as a means to acquire skills necessary for long term, white-collar employment, it might be the case that students from poorer backgrounds, with familial histories of industrial labour, not to view higher education as such a necessary requirement.
Certainly, this is reflective of the university's role within class consciousness; for middle class students, university remains the natural rite of passage, to which their social position is later asserted through professional employment. Yet, the understanding of identity for white working class students may be much more difficult to assert, where social and familial histories continue to be founded on traditional communities of industrial labour rather than the middle class professions. Certainly, it is true that many white working class students find themselves distanced from university, not because of its academic connotations, but rather that universities have traditionally been placed within a systems of class outside of their own.
Amiable as his intentions might have been, Mr. Willetts has displayed a remarkable degree of naivety, both in his assessment of class in contemporary Britain, and the societal function of universities. His comments are also surprising, considering the minister's previous commitment to allowing universities greater autonomy over their operations, away from the temptations of top-down government interference.
Much of Willett's statement, and subsequent article in the Independent, responded toward recently released figures noting a 6.3% decline in UCAS applications since last year. Statistically, such a decline is concentrated from students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who are less inclined to consider the higher education option. Indeed, much of this has to do with the accumulation of debt- which regardless of structural changes, places a debt burden of over £25,000 on students taking on a three year course. For students from poorer backgrounds, this in itself acts as a primary deterrent.
However, the underrepresentation of white working class students isn't simply a monetary issue. In 2008, the National Audit Office published a report which showed that a £392 million investment drive between 2001 and 2008 to encourage such students to attend university had failed to produce its desired results, seeing only a 2% increase in applications from such students.
What Mr. Willetts seems to be missing, is that the relationship between white working class communities and universities, still finds itself poised within rigid systems of class.
The academic sociologist, Louise Archer, noted in 2005 that perceptions of education and employment are imbedded within the histories of class groups, and are therefore valued through a cultural measure. In this case, while it is common for students from affluent or middle-class backgrounds to regard universities as a means to acquire skills necessary for long term, white-collar employment, it might be the case that students from poorer backgrounds, with familial histories of industrial labour, not to view higher education as such a necessary requirement.
Certainly, this is reflective of the university's role within class consciousness; for middle class students, university remains the natural rite of passage, to which their social position is later asserted through professional employment. Yet, the understanding of identity for white working class students may be much more difficult to assert, where social and familial histories continue to be founded on traditional communities of industrial labour rather than the middle class professions. Certainly, it is true that many white working class students find themselves distanced from university, not because of its academic connotations, but rather that universities have traditionally been placed within a systems of class outside of their own.
As David Willetts' university reforms further increase the costs of higher education, and in so doing continues to reduce universities into institutes of middle-class professionalism, attempts to recruit students from traditional white working class communities are likely only to find themselves in vain. Though Mr. Willetts is right that students from white working class communities have a plethora of untapped potential, the idea that universities should take advantage of this is heavily misappropriated, and ultimately ignores the cultural role of universities within different communities. Unless universities are reformed in a way that allows for different economic communities to be adequately accommodated, efforts to broaden university education across socio-economic boundaries will continue to remain an expensive failure.
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