Fair access to workLevelling the playing field for young people from disadvantaged backgroundsPart of the One Million Futures insight series

Fair access to work www.deloitte.co.uk/fairaccesstowork

At Deloitte, we have assessed the challenges faced by disadvantaged students and looked at the knowledge, skills and abilities that disadvantaged young people, with the right support from educators and businesses, can bring to the workforce.

Take a look at the following slides to discover our key findings.

We firmly believe that it’s not where you’re from that’s important; what counts is where you’re going.

The participation rates of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education are disproportionately low and are at risk of falling

...but on average, for every 1% increase in households in the lowest socio-economic classes, there is a corresponding fall of 1.5% in higher education participation.

The percentage of 18 year olds attending university has nearly doubled since 1990...

In 2016, just 10.3% of applications to UCAS were from the most disadvantaged students, compared with over 30% from the most advantaged.

1%

2%

10.3%

And acceptances onto university courses for the poorest two-fifths of students have only increased by 2% since 2010.

-1.5%in higher education participation

1990 Today

increase in households

disadvantaged students

increase in acceptances onto university courses

The most popular subjects for students from disadvantaged backgrounds are education and subjects allied to medicine

The most disadvantaged students were more likely to have studied education (14% compared to 11% of the most advantaged students)...

...and subjects allied to medicine (15% vs 10%).

15% 10%vs

14%disadvantaged

students

disadvantaged students

11%advantaged

students

advantagedstudents

The professional divide is widening

40 months after graduation, the most advantaged graduates were nearly 11% more likely to be employed in professional occupations than their most disadvantaged peers, and the gap has widened by over 3% since 2008-09.

80% of the most advantaged students were employed as managers, directors or senior officials, or in professional or associate professional and technical occupations 40 months after graduation. In contrast, 72% of the most disadvantaged students were employed in the same set of occupations.

Employed as managers, directors or senior officials

Most disadvantaged students Most advantaged students

11% of the most advantaged graduates more likely to be employed in professional occupations

72%80%

The social mobility pay gap is nearly 10%

Graduates from the most disadvantaged backgrounds earn on average 9.6% less than graduates from the most advantaged backgrounds. For graduates of law, computer science and social studies subjects, the gaps are 14.8%, 13.8% and 13.5%, respectively. In contrast, the most disadvantaged students of medicine and dentistry, and engineering and technology subjects, typically earn more than their advantaged peers.

The most disadvantaged students are more likely to find full-time employment than their advantaged peers if they study veterinary science, subjects allied to medicine, law and history.

76% of the most disadvantaged students are employed in the region in which they were originally domiciled compared with just 64% of the most advantaged students.

14.8%

13.8%

13.5%9.6%The gap in starting

salaries

Veterinary science Medicine Law History

The gap in starting salaries

Law

Computer science

Social studies

Graduates are less likely to be impacted by automation and the most disadvantaged students are well-placed to develop essential talents required for the future workforce

University graduates are much less likely to work in occupations threatened by smart machines, with under 20% at high risk of automation in the next 10 to 20 years, compared to 35% of the UK’s workforce in general. Yet, the risk for graduates from the most disadvantaged communities is 3% higher than for those from more advantaged backgrounds.

However, the most disadvantaged students were more likely to be employed in jobs that require essential talents. These are the broad platforms of basic skills, cognitive skills and abilities, and social skills that are increasingly in demand by employers and which will enable workers to adapt to further technology-driven shifts in the future.

at high risk of automation in the next 10 to 20 years

20%

A number of key opportunities arise for businesses, higher education and policymakers

Fair access to work: Levelling the playing field for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds is available at www.deloitte.co.uk/fairaccesstowork

Educators could do more to:

• emphasise general purpose and foundational skills and not just increasing academic specialisation.

• provide more pastoral support for disadvantaged students to reduce drop-out rates.

Policymakers could do more to:

• introduce new regulations to encourage the use of contextual information in recruitment.

• promote greater transparency around the recruitment and progression of disadvantaged young people.

Businesses could do more to:

• be aware of the impact of unconscious biases and rigid selection criteria on the employment chances and pay for disadvantaged young people.

• emphasise cognitive and problem solving skills and social aptitude rather than exam and degree outcomes.

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