Undergraduate Dissertation

This is an extract from my undergraduate dissertation entitled "Gender and Class' Impact on Aspiration". The assessment comprised of two parts: an oral presentation - in which I achieved 80% and a written submission- 71%.

3. Literature Review.

3. 1 The role of class

The UK has a particularly high degree of social segregation (Cassen and Kingdon, 2007): a class system that pervades a multitude of aspects including aspiration. It is multi-faceted in nature, it embodies not only the economic status of an individual but cultural and social capital as well as the way this translates to tastes and preferences.

Existing literature found children from lower socioeconomic classes are likely to have lower aspirations. Sodha and Margo (2010) emphasise that 49% from the poorest fifth of families say they are likely to apply to university, compared to 77% of the richest fifth. This shows differences are not only in those that get in to further education courses, but in whether applications are made in the first place. Furthermore, the simplification of "apply to university" in the statistics ignores underlying differences between institutions and courses. These are also defined, to some extent, by socioeconomic class. Certain subjects and schools are deemed more valuable by employers so it is important to acknowledge that reaching or aspiring to the same broad level of qualification does not prove equality in either aspiration or attainment.

"Family, friends and social networks play an important role in influencing attitudes, aspirations and behaviour, the relationships can be uneven, multiple and complex" (Putnam, 1995), including through their socioeconomic background. Class is commonly viewed as a family based system, often defined by parental occupation (for example see the Goldthorpe class system) or education level. It can also be defined by the linguistic and cultural capital found at home. Stafford et al (1999) found the level of cultural and social capital at home to be important in determining aspiration and educational attainment whilst Kintrea, St Clair and Houston (2001) extended the idea of home to include the entire community. Although they were unable to find statistically significant effects for deprivation's impact on aspiration, there was a strong relationship between the place and level of aspiration. This shows the importance of the immediate society and is indicative of how social networks and interactions create a position for "[c]ommunity: in dictating aspiration and attainment" (Johnston et al 2000a and Pavis et al 2000).

The role of parents is not limited to the provision of social capital but extends to include their own aspirations for their child. 78% of parents in the highest income quintile wanted their children to attend university whereas only 43% of parents in the two lowest income quintiles held this view (Willitts, Anderson, Tait and Williams, 2005). 48% of parents from high social classes expect their child to work in a professional role compared to only 21% of parents from lower classes (MORI/Sutton Trust, 2006). There are stark differences in parental aspiration between the classes but the link between this and labour market success has not been analysed. Even when controlling for the effects of family background, Strand (2007) found that young people (aged fourteen) whose parents aspired for them to stay on after the age of sixteen achieved Key Stage Three progression scores on average four points higher than young people whose parents did not have these aspirations. This role of 'home' compounds the barriers that being part of a 'lower' class is characterised by: not only are they restricted in terms of economic potential but parents are less likely to expect or believe a child can achieve great things. Admittedly this could, in part, be attributed to rationally derived expectations based on observations and the past.

Education has the potential to eradicate class difference but the British education system features a widening gap between the best and worst performers; and it is both significantly worse and more closely related to socioeconomic status in this country than elsewhere (OECD, 2001). Reay (2011) believes that British education is a class system that "valorizes middle-class [.] cultural capital", rather than one that helps alleviate inequalities in society by supplying the poor with the tools to reach their potential. There is evidence that this, in part, can be attributed to low aspirations by the working class since they are more likely to view themselves as having no value or use in society (Archer et al, 2007b).

3.2 The role of gender:

Women's aspirations are limited by heterosexual relationships, having children and glass ceilings (Schoon et al, 2007) throughout their lives. Reay's (2010) investigation in to gender roles in primary schools found children hold a subliminal belief that being male is preferable to female. Furthermore, due to a dual burden women are found to struggle with balancing career and family goals more than their male counterparts (Watson et al, 2002).

The literature suggests working-class young women's prospects, despite policy efforts, remain structured around leaving school at 16, with no higher education qualifications, with the expectation of working locally and 'settling down' in a heterosexual relationship and having children (Arnot et al., 1999; Connolly & Healy, 2004). Their aspirations are curtailed and limited to the immediate future and location without considering the broader picture. Literature on working-class women's investment in their (heterosexual) appearances shows how it constitutes one of the few available means for the production of symbolic capital (Skeggs, 1997). In reality, as exemplified in the literature, it is often counterproductive and instead accidentally reinforces the idea of the hegemonic masculinity (Kenyway et al, 1999). In fact, femininities that seek to generate authority and capital through heterosexuality are inherently limited, those that embrace them get caught in a paradox: "femininity becomes the ultimate legitimator of masculinity ... it offers to masculinity the power to impose standards, make evaluations and confirm validity" (Skeggs, 1997, Renold, 2005). Women see the role of a "man" or a male partner as a form of capital to alleviate their socioeconomic position but instead find themselves in a position more confined by gender than those that use other means. This emphasis on being in a relationship is shown to exacerbate the gender differences in the working class since young males place less importance on the relationship and as such only females' educational engagement is negatively impacted by a relationship (Archer et al, 2007). Archer does not however question whether gender influences aspiration, merely attainment.

In contrast, for the middle classes there is a Cartesian dualism, in which the academic mind is detached from the female body, or how it is depicted by the working class (Archer et al, 2007). This is shown through the contrasting observations made of working class and middle-class femininity where the latter is seen as "sexually restrained, 'demure' and passive" to match their perceived 'innocent school girl' image", (Walkerdine, 1990). Reay (2001) shows how this translates in to creating a "delicate balancing act" between femininity and intelligence such that "femininity has to be struggled over and sexuality sometimes renounced" (Reay, 2001). For the middle classes there is a societal need for women to find a balance between appearing inoffensive and feminine whilst instigating intellectual debate.

In contrast to the idea that women often perceive barriers and role conflicts as obstacles in their career development process (Albert and Luzzo, 1999), findings from recent studies revealed how females showed an interest in a greater number of careers and exhibited more gender-role flexibility in their career aspirations than males (Francis, 2002; Mendez and Crawford, 2002). Female aspirations are broader and more flexible and therefore this should translate to a greater presence both horizontally and vertically in the labour market, but this is yet to be seen.

3.3 Aspiration and its relation to achievement.

"In far too many communities there is a deeply embedded culture of low aspiration that is strongly tied to long term unemployment" (Department for Education, 2010a).

The link between teenage aspiration and adult achievement has been established by Clausen (1995) and is supported by Mello (2008). The greatest barrier to working class educational attainment is low aspirations (Demie and Lewis 2010). Ashby and Schoon (2010) further developed the notion of aspiration dictating futures to include performance in the labour market. Timing policy accurately is essential; Key stage 3 is the period when aspirations become grounded (Gottfredson, 2002) and are a more accurate prediction of future attainment, whilst performance and aspirations at sixteen were found to be positively related to future earnings, showing the importance of aspirations at this age. Further to this, evidence suggests raising the school leaving age has a significant impact on the labour market performance of an individual. The literature suggests the relationship between aspiration and attainment echoes changes in expectations, they are dynamic and alter as perspectives and realities change throughout an individual's life.

4. Background on policy.

The government must play a role in raising aspirations, in order to increase educational achievements which create greater economic equity and contribute to the competiveness of the UK economy (Kintrea et al, 2011). Both the current Coalition and New Labour governments focused social mobility agendas around inspiring a nation to aspire and as such many of the policy initiatives targeted deprived communities with aim higher ideas. "We want a meritocracy, where individuals make the most of the opportunities open to them," this mantra has become the central theme of social policy (Cabinet Office, 2009).

The cultural assumption held by those in lower socioeconomic classes is often that university is not for them, the mystification of higher education hinders potential and stumps aspiration. Policies of 'raising aspiration' have a strong tendency to promote cultural and psychological explanations and solutions to persisting inequalities. This lack of aspiration is associated with other psychological characteristics such as low self-esteem. Accordingly many of the policies are holistic in their nature, addressing all aspects of a nation of low ambition to create Ed Balls' "new culture of learning and aspiration - with high expectations for every young person" (2007). Policies are normally targeted towards certain socioeconomic groups, often by location.

Policy is often committed to 'closing the gap' in educational success across socioeconomic classes and location but policies have been significantly flawed (Perry and Francis, 2010): in reality they can lead to the individualisation of problems rather than addressing them (Sopher, 2011). Reay and Lucey (2003) emphasise that it is normally the middle class students in worse schools that benefit most from education (and aspiration) policy, for example Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA). In the government's qualitative study only 12% of receivers said they would not have continued with education if they had not received it, showing how little impact it had and illustrating how many of those receiving it were likely middle-class (by economic status). This figure hides the added benefits that EMA can provide however, for example increasing available time for study as the requirement for part time work is reduced and because it forces better attendance levels, as such the conclusion of an 88% deadweight loss is incorrect (Chowdry and Emmerson, 2010). Further to this, the data was analysed by gender breakdown and using neighbourhood deprivation (by IMD scores and by number of pupils receiving free school meals) and it found the effect of EMA was greatest for women in the poorest 40% of areas showing that it is most important for those whom the literature suggests face the strongest structures of aspirational constraint.

In reaction to literature indicating that aspiration is often a product of neighbourhood sentiment, I feel Inspiring Communities was the most important policy idea. The program tried to tackle places typified by low aspirations and narrow horizons by inspiring and enabling young people to maximise their potential. The idea was any project could be started if it was expected to benefit the community, for example "Meet up Café" in Norfolk, which enables entrepreneurial ideas to spread and encourages the expansion of community social capital.

AimHigher was an umbrella term encompassing a range of policies aimed at increasing higher education participation amongst those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It was started in 2004 through the amalgamation of Excellence Programs and Partnerships for Progression and ran for seven years. The idea was to increase aspiration and encourage more people to attend university by providing realistic insights in to higher education, for example running summer schools or taster sessions. It aimed to bring schools and universities together.

The four key aims of the Aimhigher: Excellence Challenge were: 1. To ensure high levels of aspiration by developing partnerships in Education Action Zones (EAZs) and Excellence in Cities (EiC), between higher education institutes and schools; 2. To ensure that the institutes have the financial means to generate and maintain their partnerships; 3. To guarantee that young people are educated on how to progress to further study; and 4. Piloting 26,000 Opportunity Bursaries for young people (£2000 per full time student). Analysis of the programs found subject specific activities, residential schools and guidance were the most important aspects (AimHigher.co.uk, 2008). The most effective programs were those that demystified universities and showed them to be accessible for all, removing urban legends about elitism.

Evaluation of the economic incentives offered under AimHigher: Opportunity Bursaries (OBs), found credit card balances and overdraft usage was lower for those who received OBs (West et al, 2003), this is particularly important given 80% of the survey said they worried about debt and 85% said that having an OB reduced this fear. There is little point aspiring beyond financial capabilities and therefore OBs making further education financially viable enables more people from less privileged backgrounds to hold university as an aim. West et al (2003) is particularly valuable because it differentiated the results by the institute applied to. They were classified as pre-1992 institutions; post-1992; other and further education sector colleges: accepting that different institutes provide different forms of qualification which are both indicative of different aspirations and often translate to different roles in the labour market. Additionally, much of the analysis was done with a gender breakdown, which highlighted women were more worried about debt; more aware that they would have to work whilst studying and were more concerned about balancing the two activities. In light of this it could be said that OBs had a greater impact on women since they were more conscientious about their financial choices regarding further education and thus more encouraged to pursue goals of higher qualifications when receiving the financial support.

Furthermore, much of the AimHigher policy initiatives targeted educating people about reaching their potential and setting ambitious but realistic goals, since individuals that hold high goals without the means of reaching them are left in a state of disillusionment (Pahael-Reed et al, 2007). Education guidance was found to be very useful, this was applied in Path4Life and Connexions: the idea that young people benefit from assistance in establishing the best way forward. Career guidance plays a key role in helping labour markets work and education systems meet their goals. This is supported by Lapan, Gysbers and Sun (1997) who looked at data from American school services and found comprehensive services have a positive impact on both the quality of students' decisions and their performance.

Inspiring Communities was a policy aiming to empower young people. It was evaluated in Inspiring Communities, Changing Behaviour (gov.co.uk, 2011), and the following ten obstacles were deemed the most powerful:

1. Lack of roadmap and destination 2. Lack of confidence to stand out 3. Actual geography 4. Perceived geography 5. Economic deprivation 6. People 'precedent' 7. Pace and safety 8. Parental passivity 9. Disconnect from academic interests 10. Ethnicity and cultural duties.

In addition to the above findings, 38% of questionnaire respondents felt the Inspiring Communities campaign had made a big difference to young people's attitudes and behaviour, and 62% felt it had made some difference, showing the policies were useful.

Many of the policies adopted in the last decade have been effective, at least to some degree. The most successful were those targeting specific people and involving accessible guidance to demystify university.

Note: The survey referred to above was one I designed and conducted with 200 responses (more details given in a different part of the dissertation, not included in the extract).