Breaking social mobility’s glass ceiling
John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in the classic 'Class Sketch' in The Frost Report in 1967 - have things now changed for the worse?
SOCIAL mobility – or lack of it – is a bigger problem in the UK than almost anywhere else in the Western world. Despite the increase in investment in education since Labour came into power in 1997, some serious flaws remain in the system. And it’s not just the poorest part of the population that are suffering. Many middle-income families – the so-called ‘forgotten middle class’ – are finding it hard to compete, with many top professions increasingly being closed off to all but the most affluent in our society.
This was confirmed in the findings of a report published recently by the Panel on Fair Access, chaired by former Labour minister Alan Milburn, himself a working class boy-done-good. The main message of the report was that opportunity is not evenly distributed in the UK and that without appropriate action employment segregation will widen rather than narrow in years to come. This really comes as no surprise most of us. The cost of professional post-graduate courses and the difficulty in finding funding for them has forced many of our talented contemporaries to opt for alternative and less lucrative careers.
Many have also lost out on valuable internship opportunities, either because they (or rather their parents) didn’t know the right people, or simply because they couldn’t afford to work a full time unpaid or poorly paid position on top of their student debt. Then they’ve found it difficult if not impossible to get a professional job because of the lack of internship experience. It’s a Catch 22 situation and hugely disheartening for those involved.
But how do you tackle an issue such as social mobility when the problems seem so inherently ingrained? How do we, to quote the report, go about “unleashing aspirations” so that there’s equal access to professions such as medicine, law and journalism for everyone within our society? Yes, it’s easy to agree that it should happen – but is it truly achievable?
Rather than providing all the answers, Milburn’s team set out a number of recommendations in the report, many of which had already been floated in the press. They also raised a number of interesting questions, which they argue will need further exploration. It’s worth focusing on a few of these possible solutions, to consider if they would make any real difference to those who are currently been failed by the system.
Better careers advice in order to raise pupils’ aspirations
Careers advice is always hit or miss, and its usefulness very much depends on the particular teacher and school. Typically, the advice received is often based on the type of jobs available in that area, what the student’s parents do and what subjects the are taking. Aspirations aren’t usually raised and the idea of radically overhauling work experience programmes should certainly be taken on board.
Similarly, there are huge benefits in the recommendation that the professions and the Government should work together to introduce a national scheme for career mentoring by young professionals and university students of school pupils in years 9 and 13. Meeting people from the same social background who have gone on to great things can be hugely inspiring and influential on students, far more effective than reading a case study in a leaflet or online. We should be encouraging our students to think and dream big and provide them with the opportunities to succeed rather than stifling and disheartening them at an early age.
No-fees degrees for students living at home
What has to be remembered when considering this option is that not all local universities will offer all professional courses. This is especially true in our most rural societies. For example, there’s no veterinary college in Wales, so all our students have to go elsewhere if they want to become study in this field. Similarly, medicine isn’t offered in Bangor or Aberystwyth. It’s not practical or possible to commute from North or Mid Wales to Cardiff every day so those who want to study medicine would have to move to the capital and, therefore, would not be able to take advantage of any no-fees opportunity.
Yes, some people would benefit. But they are mainly those who would have chosen to stay at home anyway. In real terms, such a scheme will have very little impact in terms of widening access to the professions and may lead to people lowering rather than raising their aspirations by encouraging young people to choose the course that’s closest to home, rather than the best course for their careers.
Internship support loans – and developing a transparent system for internships
The best internship positions for many of the top professions are to be found in cities and, more often than not, in the UK that means London. Competition is usually fierce and unless you’ve been privately educated, went to Oxford or Cambridge, or the CEO of the company in question is a close family friend, then you often you stand very little chance of being offered one. If, by some miracle you beat the odds and succeed, another obstacle stands in your way: money. If your parents can’t help to support you, then how are you expected to be able to undertake a three or six-month programme? You’re often expected to work long hours to prove your commitment and dedication to the company, so you don’t have time for a second job. How then are you expected to be able to pay rent and feed yourself?
Anything that would help make it easier for people to get that first step on the professional ladder should be wholeheartedly embraced. Anything that would help make the system fairer could make a real difference for many. The majority of internship schemes have undoubtedly favoured the privileged rather than the brightest. If social mobility is to become a reality, that has to stop.
New vocational routes into the professions
Not everyone does well at school. Some people fool around, others have tough family situations that stop them from doing well and others don’t get the necessary support and fall through the gaps. That doesn’t mean that they’re less bright or less suited to professional work than the straight A students. The best way to improve their chances is the creation of another entry system to those professions, where practical.
While the Government has committed to providing new apprenticeship opportunities, they are still looked down upon by many employers, who compare them unfavourably to university qualifications. This backward mentality has to stop, and there’s a responsibility on the professions to get the apprenticeship entry scheme right so that it is effective. The Government should lead by example, and extend the apprenticeship model to the civil service and local government. For example, 75% of judges, 45% of top civil servants and 32% of MPs were independently schooled. Those leading our society should be representative of society, and the UK Government and devolved administrations should take action to ensure that will happen in the future.
Engineering such a shift in our society won’t be easy. Results won’t be apparent overnight, and it will take a long term commitment from the Government, devolved administrations and the professions to make social mobility more commonplace. Demand for unskilled labour will fall dramatically in years to come and those without skills will be left by the wayside unless appropriate steps are taken. Doing nothing is no longer an option if we are serious about tackling social segregation. Everyone deserves a chance at being the best, not just those lucky enough to be born into the right family.
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We have a society based on class and inherited privilege, starting with the monarchy and Lords. So it’s no surprise that even a Blairite like Milburn concluded inequality is structural – the pity is that his conclusions are so limited. If we’re serious about reducing inequality, how about starting with cutting tax breaks and charitable status for private schools.
This is the start of the fast-track system to the top for the elite – in the UK just 7% attend fee-paying schools yet, as Heledd says, they dominate many top jobs. About half Oxbridge entrants are from fee-paying schools.
In Wales we have fewer in this top strata partly because only 2% of pupils in Wales attend fee-paying schools – but of course many jobs still go to people based on who they know rather than on merit further down the pecking order.
Finally, if this inequality isn’t challenged then it’s highly likely that demand for unskilled workers will grow – as butlers, maids and cooks for the elite. As well as the huge army of carers needed for the growing elderly population.
I fear that, unless we make a decisive shift towards a more equal society, we are heading for a US-style society divided between no go zone ghettoes run by gangs and gated communities policed privately.
This essay covers the relevant points from the Report and the issues covered but at a UK level. Are there specific issues for services and young people in Wales? As we are all aware English public schools and universities provide much of the access to the professions, and are the home and centre of the professions. Is a middle class child in Wales further disadvantaged than a middle class child in England?
If so, are there Welsh specific solutions in addition to the ones listed in the report? Do we need to do more to level the playing field?
(I can’t claim to have any of the answers, it was just the thought that struck me as I read this article and I wanted to see other people’s views)
“SOCIAL mobility – or lack of it – is a bigger problem in the UK than almost anywhere else in the Western world.”
I liked this article, but I think that might need a fact check.
The problem I find with any of these reports is that they are written by either the elite, or the formerly working class but now elite. They are then discussed by those who have ‘made good’; ranging from guilt to envy to general indifference. The working class and how to improve their lot has become a spectator sport fo the elite. We never get working class, regional people putting forward ideas…
Social mobility is another rather amorphous concept too. I mean, although the ‘professions’ are dominated by the well off, what do you think would have to those rich people if they was bumped from them by the lower classes? For social mobility to work, you are going to have to have people who are on top currently coming back down the social mobility ladder. The gutlessness of the political class is that they won’t dare mention this, it is not the poor people that vote them in right?
Much of the lack of social mobility is because the target is ever moving. The privileged few will always try to make another advantage out for themselves. Internships are currently the en vogue barrier, but give it a few years, there will be a new set of barriers that can only be bought by money or influence.
I don’t mean to be too negative, I think there needs to be a more honest debate to a certain degree. The political class are trying to present this as a have your cake and eat it argument, as per usual. The fact is that working class kids entering the professions will mean less rich kids will, this truth is the reason Governments wont genuinely tackle it head on.
There are some excellent ideas in this essay, and who can argue that we should remove barriers and open doors?
But – although I am in no position to question the findings of the Milburn report, in my own experience it seems too bleak. As a middle aged Welshman from the valleys I have seen much upward social mobility.
In my far off schooldays most of my contemporaries’ fathers (as it seemed only the fathers worked full time outside the home) were miners or in various manual and semi-skilled occupations. When I consider what happened to my schoolmates, I see that most have done well. Several are solicitors, one is a judge, there is (I think, a doctor and a dentist) and people other professional and well-paid jobs. I am doing OK, too. It was quite a leap in one generation – probably due to pushy and aspirational parents. Maybe things have deteriorated due to financial pressures on families.