‘Entrenched’ earnings inequalities persist even with a degree

Going to university helps decrease inequalities for disadvantaged young people but “education alone cannot improve social mobility”, warns a new report.

The paper from the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes (Taso), which analyses the earnings and employment status of more than 1 million individuals who took their GCSEs in 2002 and 2003, shows that graduates of top-tier UK higher education institutions earned an average of £40,600 16 years after their GCSEs – over £20,000 more than those who did no further study.

Graduates who undertook a higher education qualification at any type of provider were also found to be much more likely to be employed – 84 per cent compared with 65 per cent for those with no known qualification beyond GCSE level.

However, the report finds that equality gaps remain and that a clear disadvantage earnings gap exists: earnings are consistently higher among more advantaged students compared with those eligible for free school meals.

Researchers found that “stubborn equality gaps” persist in terms of gender, free school meal status and ethnicity.

Taso says the results demonstrate that, although higher education can help redress inequalities, they are “entrenched in society and broadly present regardless of the pathways undertaken”.

“This may suggest that addressing inequalities will require a focus on areas other than education, or that education alone cannot improve social mobility,” the report concludes.

Omar Khan, chief executive of Taso, said higher education qualifications were clearly linked to higher earnings and likelihood of employment.

“Despite disadvantaged and under-represented students getting a bigger ‘boost’ from attending higher education, these qualifications do not close equality gaps,” added Dr Khan.

“While we need a broader set of policy interventions to tackle the wider causes of labour market inequalities, universities need to ensure they’re doing all they can to deliver better employment outcomes, particularly for more disadvantaged students.”

The research shows that men earn more than women across the full range of outcomes explored, and that university degrees do not appear to narrow this gap.

But analysis of earnings by ethnicity suggests a more “mixed story”, according to Taso. People from ethnic minorities without degrees earn about £1,700 less than their white classmates – a gap that narrows slightly at university level, but reverses at top providers.

A university degree was also found to provide the biggest earnings boost for women from mixed and other ethnic minorities who were eligible for free school meals, as well as Asian men.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com