| Bleak job prospects for graduates from underprivileged backgrounds |
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Graduates from not-so-privileged backgrounds are often forced to take up jobs as soon as they leave the university owing to their mounting debts, a new study has found. These jobs may be well below their qualifications and may not pay as much as they deserve, the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says.
The study found that university graduates from poor areas of western Scotland were forced to take up the first job that came their way in order to clear the debts accumulated during their study period. The report prepared by academics at Glasgow University found that although Scottish students were exempted from paying tuition fees, the cost of pursuing higher education hit the poorest in an adverse manner. This was especially true of female students whose studies were not subsidized by parents.
"The routes these less advantaged students took through higher education were often complex and involved failures, breaks and new starts. Debt was their constant companion and they often supported themselves through college by working long hours away from their studies," said Professor Andy Furlong, a co-author of the report. Some graduates felt that their accents or the area where they lived was hampering their prospects.
The study tracked 250 students from the poorest areas in Scotland and reached the conclusion that poor graduates have a tough time on the job market. Only four out of then had found graduate-level jobs after leaving the university, the study found.
"The early employment experiences of graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds were harmed by the heavier level of debts they had incurred compared with other students," said report co-author Fred Cartmel. "The lesson for policy makers is that their support for wider access needs to be matched with fairer funding arrangements."
Posted
on : Fri, 28 Oct 2005 07:40 GMT | General News
By : Chris Rowe
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