Postgraduate Study and Careers
Paul Wakeling, University of York
Emma Pollard and Wil Hunt, Institute of Employment Studies
Access to postgraduate study: the national picture
There has been a great deal of attention and expenditure on widening participation in undergraduate study over the last decade. In contrast, there has been an almost complete neglect of concern with continuation to postgraduate study. This is despite growth in postgraduate numbers which is little short of revolutionary and the developing profile of postgraduate qualifications in some sectors. There is a risk that gains in widening access at undergraduate level could be nullified at postgraduate level.
Although there is comparatively little research on access to postgraduate study, this situation is beginning to change. I will present evidence on the characteristics of the postgraduate student body in general and consider factors affecting access based on my own research and some other recent studies, focussing on social class, ethnicity and finances. I will also set out some of the important differences between undergraduate and postgraduate study and explain why these need to be carefully considered in any approach to widening postgraduate participation.
This will set the scene for consideration of evidence about participation at postgraduate level in arts subjects, to be presented in the same session by Emma Pollard of the Institute for Employment Studies.
Participation in postgraduate study: a look at creative arts and design
Widening participation is a key policy focus within HE to ensure the supply of skills to the economy and to facilitate social mobility and minimise social exclusion. But how wide is participation in creative arts and design postgraduate study – a key route to creative careers and a key supply of skills to the creative industries? What do we know and where are the gaps?
This workshop uses quantitative data collected and analysed for NALN to focus on creative arts and design postgraduates to explore issues in participation. In particular it will explore who participates in CAD postgraduate study and how they study, and how they differ from the wider postgraduate population. It will also look at who progresses from undergraduate CAD study to postgraduate study.
The session will touch on the issues of defining who we are interested in and the difficulties in capturing background characteristics in order to identify any challenges for widening participation.
This follows on from a broader consideration of evidence about postgraduate participation, to be presented in the same session by Paul Wakeling of the University of York.
