Employer's Social Mobility Alliance

The higher education system has been perceived as an engine of social mobility, with graduates benefitting from higher salaries and greater career resilience. But over recent years, the capacity of the sector to tackle inequality has come under intense scrutiny. Whilst progress has been made, inequalities persist. And the concepts of equal opportunity and meritocracy are exposed as myths as university choices and the lived experiences of students are strongly associated with social background.

There are structural inequalities across the higher education system relating to place, age, class and ethnicity. Although there has been a significant increase in participation in higher education amongst individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds over the last five years, the participation gaps remain significant and persistent. There are also striking geographical inequalities in higher education. For example, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds from London are significantly more likely to participate in higher education than their peers from the South West (48% versus 15%).

Students from higher socio-economic backgrounds are disproportionately represented at the most selective universities that confer a premium in the labour market. Across the sector, individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds, mature students and some ethnic groups are more likely to drop out of study and have weaker degree outcomes than their peers. For instance, there is a wide gap between Black and White students in relation to degree attainment (60% attain a first/2:1 versus 82%). There are also continuing gaps in graduate outcomes within these groups, though these are narrowing. The issue has shifted from being ‘primarily about exclusion from the system to being about exclusion within it’.