News3 May 2023
TASO has launched a new report that explores the evidence on the value of higher education (HE), specifically whether HE addresses existing equality gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students.
The research involved an initial rapid evidence review to expose the gaps in the existing literature and an analysis of publicly available UK Households Survey data to fill some of those gaps.
Key findings:
- The report reveals that higher education is linked to clear economic benefits for disadvantaged students, however they consistently earn less than graduates from more advantaged backgrounds – even after considering the university attended or subject choice.
- The report also reveals that university graduates from low socioeconomic backgrounds appear to benefit from higher levels of measures linked to wellbeing, such as perceived financial prosperity.
- There is also evidence that higher education can increase social and geographical mobility for disadvantaged students.
In response to the findings, TASO recommends higher education providers:
- While attending higher education has clear economic benefits, higher education providers must do more to address the gap in labour market outcomes between disadvantaged graduates and their peers.
- The literature identifies subject and institution choice as factors that may partly determine future earning potential. Pre-entry information, advice and guidance (IAG) may help students enter courses which are a better match for their long-term earning potential based on prior attainment.
- To address the remaining gaps which exist between more and less advantaged graduates, higher education providers must take a strategic approach to employability support, developing and evaluating programmes specifically designed for disadvantaged students.
- Further research is needed to identify the impact of other characteristics such as ethnicity, gender and prior attainment on the outcomes of disadvantaged graduates.
- To accompany the evidence on the economic value of higher education, there is a clear need for more evidence on the non-economic outcomes for disadvantaged graduates.
Following the findings of this report, TASO has commissioned a further investigation of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset for a more detailed analysis of long-term economic outcomes.
A total of 78 papers were included in the evidence review. The rapid evidence review took a broad definition of disadvantage to include any measure of economic disadvantage, for example, eligibility for free school meals or certain socioeconomic categorisations.
Data from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey – Understanding Society (Usoc) was analysed to address the identified gaps around softer outcomes, such as wellbeing, mental health and social capital.
This report was developed by State of Life and Mime on behalf of TASO.
Download the full report: The value of higher education
Download the executive summary: The value of higher education
If you have any questions around the report, or would like the report in another format, you can get in touch with us at info@taso.org.uk.