Research shows how to help students from low-educated backgrounds to become first generation elite

Graduates of elite university programmes earn far higher wages than others. However, youngsters from lower socio-economic status (SES) families are rarely seen on such degree programmes. Recent research reveals that mixing with schoolmates from elite-educated backgrounds increases enrolment of lower SES students on elite degree programmes, and can increase social mobility.

Research by Professor Emma Tominey at York, Dr Sarah Cattan at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and Professor Kjell Salvanes at the Norwegian School of Economics analysed Norwegian data on nearly 180,000 children who started high school between 2002 and 2012. The researchers were able to analyse data on parents’ occupations, education and incomes, and track the students through school and university and into the labour market.

The researchers particularly focussed on two groups of students: (i) those from lower-income families where neither parent held an elite degree and at least one parent had no further or higher education; and (ii) those where at least one parent had obtained an elite degree from a top-level institution, equivalent to subjects like medicine, law and economics at an Ivy League or “Oxbridge” institution.

The research showed that exposure to schoolmates from elite-educated families in secondary school raised low SES students’ grades in written exams, and increased applications to elite university degree programmes by providing role models, information or aspirations. But it’s not all good: the teachers in the class responded to an increase in elite students by lowering grades in teacher-assessed exams, particularly for low SES students.

The takeaway lesson is that less SES segregation in schools, more anonymous marking, and information on and role models for elite university programmes can all help low SES students to navigate their way onto elite university courses.

In the UK, students who attend private secondary schools are around 100 times more likely to attend Oxford or Cambridge than students who are eligible for free school meals, and according to figures from the Department of Education, graduates of business, computing or law degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics and Imperial College London earn more than double the typical UK salary within five years of graduating.

Professor Tominey believes that governments should consider policies that ensure greater integration of students from different economic backgrounds as a means of increasing social
mobility. She said, “The UK’s school system is currently very segregated by family income. Our research shows how important it is for students to mix with others who have experience of these elite institutions, whose parents have attended them, and who can therefore act both as role models and as a source of information about that academic route. In policy terms, this is something that is within the power of government to influence, by changing how school places are allocated to ensure a more even mix of students from different economic and educational backgrounds. While this would not necessarily be easy to implement, it could have a major impact on social mobility and educational equality.”