The UK’s European university

GENDER, SKILLS AND EDUCATION

Julia M Goodfellow, 24 October 2016 BIAC, Paris

BIAC –education priorities

‘versatile, skilled and employable’ - quote from chair of BIAC education committee

Priority areas from report:

• Curriculum and assessment

• Entrepreneurial education

• Teaching quality and school outcomes

• Vocational education and training at workplace

• Innovation in education and higher education

Comparator slide - 1970 versus 2014

1970 2014

15 School leaving age 18

8%

Percentage young

people going to

university

40%

33% Percentage of

women at university 56%

54% Percentage of GVA

from services 80%

My Career – Very Traditional

• BSc in Physics in 1972

• PhD in Biophysics

• Postdoctoral position at Stanford

• Fellowship and lectureship at Birkbeck

• Promotion to Professor

• Vice-Master at Birkbeck (deputy head)

• Chief Executive at BBSRC

• Vice-Chancellor at University of Kent 2007 – 2017

• President of Universities UK 2015 – 2017

% of UK Male and Female Students in Languages

and Computer Science – 2012/2013

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Languages Computer Science

Female

Male

Subject of Study by Level and Gender UK

2012/13*

Gender and Science/Engineering

• Professor Higgins principle ( My Fair Lady) –

Why can’t women be more like men

Lower participation from the most disadvantaged

areas – UK entry rates to university .

2015 entry rates

Gender gap is larger for those from

disadvantaged backgrounds

Students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in UK HEIs 2013-14

BME attainment

• White, Chinese and Asian students are above the

sector average in degree qualification

• Black, other Asian and Other students are below the

sector average in degree qualification

• BME students are below the average sector for attaining

at first or upper second classification

• BME students are below sector average in gaining

employment or entering further study after graduation

Focussing on the Student Journey

• School to University: recruitment to HE

With sector targets from government

• Progression while at University

• Employment; employability; future career • SMAG employer reference group established

Source: ‘The gender wage gap’, IfS, August 2016

18% gender pay gap

Women in UK Leadership Positions 2016

7%

19% 19%

21% 22%

26%

35%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

FTSE 100 ChiefExecs

Chairs of HEgoverning bodies

FTSE 250 boardmembers

High Court Judges Vice Chancellors FTSE 100 boardmembers

Cabinet Ministers

BIAC Board Members

Summary

• Massive positive change for women over a generation

• Still ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘glass cliffs’ effects for those further on in career

• Education/career trajectory dependent on social class and ethnicity as well as gender

• Young men –especially from white low social economic groups – not progressing from school to university in sufficient numbers

Change over 60 years

THE UK’S EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY

www.kent.ac.uk

Government goals on widening participation

• Increase by 20% the number of black and minority

ethnic students going to university by 2020.

• Double the rate of entry into higher education

among those from the least advantaged backgrounds

• Special attention paid to young people from

Caribbean heritage and white British boys from

the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Ensuring that disabled people are able to fully

participate in higher education and achieve strong

outcomes

Black Minority Ethnic (BME) participation

Source: ‘The gender wage gap’, IfS, August 2016