Proportionately posh?
A recent article in The Guardian has revived an age-old educational debate; that of elitism in universities. The article focuses on Oxbridge, stating that 40% of their intake comes from private institutions, schools which make up just 7% of the UK’s student population.
So, Oxford and Cambridge are elitist. Not exactly news, is it? But supposing the focus was shifted onto, I don’t know, the University of York, for instance.
It is no secret that this University is predominantly white and middle-class. Indeed, you only have to glance at the names of the writers in this humble publication. But where exactly are all these undergraduates coming from?
At the risk of number crunching, let’s have a quick look at the statistics. In the 2005/6 intake, just under 15% came from private schools – it’s not as high as it is for Oxbridge, but given that only 7% of all UK students are from these institutions, it’s still pretty disproportionate.
It is at this point that an ugly question rears its politically incorrect head: isn’t this inevitable?
There is a great deal of truth in the old adage that you get what you pay for. If an establishment is earning several thousand pounds per pupil per term, then it will attract a higher standard of teaching, and consequently, its students may stand a better chance of getting into selective universities such as York.
Of course, it is also true that students from private schools are less likely to be put off higher education by the costs involved. Despite government loans, there are still families, particularly those with no history of higher education, who find the idea of getting into debt to fund a degree inconceivable.
In fact, it is a bigger step for many of these families now than it would have been forty years ago, when students were given grants rather than loans.
Students from state schools may well suffer as a result of their inability (or unwillingness) to pay for both secondary and tertiary education, but barring some kind of quasi-Communist educational reform, this will surely continue.
Alternative attempts to remedy the situation tend to fall under the deleterious label of ‘positive discrimination’ – the process of favouring those from certain backgrounds over others who may be more suitable for the role.
In any case, elitism in education is hardly a new phenomenon. For millennia, basic education was the preserve of the wealthy and the powerful. It is only now, with the growing democratisation of society (thanks largely to the internet) that people are demanding change.
The problem is, however, that systems do not change as quickly as people would like. Attempts have been made, and the educational system has been re-organised many times to no avail.
It is, to some extent, inevitable that students from wealthier backgrounds will possess an advantage in education, but perhaps this will change through slow erosion and evolution rather than rash measures and discrimination.
We are constantly bombarded with new ideas, and our modern sensibilities demand equally modern solutions. We expect situations to be resolved at the click of a mouse, but that is something that isn’t always, or even often, possible.
