Class bias ‘faced by poor university students’
● Professor warns of institutional racism and higher drop-out rates
A key Scottish Government adviser has claimed class discrimination contributes to the failure of poor students to do as well as their richer counterparts.
Professor Sir Peter Scott likened the anti-lower class bias to “institutional racism” in a report identifying that poor students have higher drop out rates, achieve less at university and end up in less prestigious jobs than their better-off classmates.
Sir Peter, the Scottish Government’s Commissioner for Fair Access, questioned if courses placed “too much emphasis on elite knowledge, and traditional models of professional practice”.
His document also suggested Nicola Sturgeon should set universities the target of ensuring that the poorest achieve the same outcomes from higher education as the most privileged by 2030.
Sir Peter admitted that meeting that challenge would be a “tough call” given the disparity between rich and poor in his document. While Higher Education minister Shirley-anne Somerville admitted the inequality was “shocking”.
In a commentary for his discussion paper “Retention, Outcomes and Destinations”, Sir Peter said it was now “commonplace” to talk about “institutional racism that is so deep-
0 A report has found poor students end up in less prestigious jobs than their better-off classmates ly entrenched it may go unrecognised. But there is a reluctance to accept the same is true of class.”
He added: “However much support they receive during their time at college or university, they still suffer discrimination.”
His paper showed most students from poorer areas studied at newer universities, with a lower proportion going to the more prestigious “ancient” universities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews.
Students from deprived backgrounds – the 20 per cent of poorest areas as identified by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) – were also more likely to drop out, with retention rates typically about five percentage points lower than for other students.
Meanwhile fewer than half (47 per cent) of students from the poorest areas achieved a 2:1 honours degree or better, compared to 63 per cent from other parts of the country.
The percentage of those looking for work who found professional level jobs was consistently lower for graduates from the poorest backgrounds - by around five percentage points.
Sir Peter said more needed to be invested in supporting under-privileged students and overcoming the obstacles they face.
Ms Somerville said the Scottish Government would accept the “timely challenge” set out by the Commissioner to persuade “all to do more to address this shocking inequality”.