Social mobility tsar: Don’t dream too big
People from poor backgrounds should take “smaller steps” rather than aiming for Oxbridge, the Government’s new social mobility tsar will say today. In her first speech as chair of the Social Mobility Commission, Katharine Birbalsingh will say there is too much emphasis on those from deprived backgrounds getting into the top universities or elite jobs. Instead, the focus should be on people taking small steps up the ladder, from the bottom to the middle rungs, she will argue.
PEOPLE from poor backgrounds should take “smaller steps” rather than aiming for Oxbridge, the Government’s social mobility tsar will say today.
In her first speech as chair of the Social Mobility Commission, Katharine Birbalsingh will argue that there is too much focus on those from deprived backgrounds getting into the top universities or high-paying jobs.
The emphasis should be on people taking small steps up the ladder, from the bottom to the middle rungs, she will argue as she vows to tackle uncomfortable truths head-on.
“We want to move away from the notion that social mobility should just be about the ‘long’ upward mobility from the bottom to the top – the person who is born into a family in social housing and becomes a banker or CEO,” Ms Birbalsingh is expected to say.
“We want to promote a broader view of social mobility, for a wider range of people, who want to improve their lives, sometimes in smaller steps.
“This means looking at how to improve opportunities for those at the bottom – not just by making elite pathways for the few – but by thinking about those who would otherwise be left behind.”
Calling for a radical shift in the way the UK views social mobility, she will add that success has too often been defined as a caretaker’s daughter going to Oxbridge and becoming a top surgeon. Instead more attention should be paid to those taking small steps up, like those whose parents were unemployed who now have a job, the son of a postman becoming a branch manager or the daughter of a care worker becoming a primary school teacher.
Ms Birbalsingh, whose no-nonsense approach earned her a reputation as “Britain’s strictest head teacher”, will set out her vision at the Policy Exchange in London today.
It will be her first speech since she was appointed chair of the advisory Government body in October.
The founder and headmistress at Michaela Community School in north London first rose to prominence during the Tory party conference in 2010 where she argued that schools had been “blinded by Leftist ideology”, leading to a lack of discipline and bad behaviour.
She has vowed to use her time as the commission’s chair to focus on ensuring that parents take greater responsibility for their children’s education.
The commission will also look at how small businesses can improve diversity and ways to create more regional opportunities to support the Government’s levelling-up agenda.
But she will also use the event to emphasise that there is no “one-sizefits-all model of social mobility”.
“If a child of parents who were longterm unemployed, or who never worked, gets a good job in their local area, isn’t that a success worth celebrating?” Ms Birbalsingh is set to ask.
“Would we really say that it doesn’t count as social mobility because they are not a doctor or lawyer?”
She believes there has been too much focus on widening access to university, at a time when leading institutions such as Oxbridge have been ordered to boost their intake of state school students.
But university does not always bring the benefits hoped for, she will say, and instead diverts attention away from the 50 per cent of people who choose not to go into higher education.
She will say: “What can we do for young people and adults who have not followed the higher education pathway but still need a route to high skills and good occupational opportunities?.
“And what more should be done about those at the very bottom – particularly those with low levels of basic literacy and numeracy – who cannot take advantage of higher learning and are unable to access higher paid work?”