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A combination of education methods could be the key for some students aiming for higher education
July 24, 2009Dr Geoff Hayward from Oxford University funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, who led the research points out, a high proportion of those with combined academic and vocational qualifications gained their qualifications in state-school sixth forms and have importantly similar backgrounds to the traditional academic applicants. Therefore, the increasing proportion of students applying to higher education with combined academic and vocational qualifications may be widening participation but not substantially.
'Students with a vocational background are particularly under represented in prestigious higher education institutions,' says Dr Hayward 'This is due to the self-limiting perceptions of the students and to the judgements about the competence of vocational students by universities.'
The study shows that students from vocational backgrounds tend to be in institutions with fewer resources and in institutions that carry less weight in the labour market. Furthermore, their experience of higher education is often a complex and difficult process. Many feel they were not properly prepared at school or college for what is expected of them at university. They also have trouble with their particular subjects of study. Some of them find it difficult to balance academic work with family commitments and the work they have to do to pay for their studies.
'Students need to be able to draw on support to overcome these difficulties,' says Dr Hayward. 'Then again, many of the existing support mechanisms are only aimed at students with general academic qualifications. Others support mechanisms are too standardised for the particular needs of non-traditional students.'
The project is now working with a variety of stakeholders to determine the practical consequences of the research findings. The relative success of students who combine vocational with academic education may point the way forward for reform. Still, as Dr Hayward acknowledges, the greatest obstacle to widening higher education participation and to making access fairer is still the status inequality between vocational qualifications and traditional academic qualifications.
Economic & Social Research Council
Higher Education Current Events and Higher Education News RSSToday's children decide their school and career path early
'What is very striking,' says Professor Croll, 'is that for this generation there is absolutely no gender stereotyping in hopes for the future. Furthermore, what children say at the age of 11 about school participation after the age of 16 is highly predictive of their actual behaviour.'
Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer with an Upside
A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.
Childhood cancer survivors less likely to marry, Yale researchers find
Adult survivors of childhood cancer are 20 to 25 percent more likely to never marry compared with siblings and the general population, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Major swine flu outbreak at US Air Force Academy, unique opportunity to study virus behavior
With the 2009 influenza season upon us, characterization of the epidemiology and duration of shedding for the nH1N1 virus is critical. Investigators from the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine Epidemiology Consult Service capitalized on a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights about the natural behavior of the nH1N1 virus, including shedding patterns, during a recent large-scale swine flu outbreak at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA).
Survivors of childhood cancer less likely to marry
Childhood cancer survivors typically suffer from the long-term effects of cancer treatment on physical health, and results of a new study suggest that social implications also exist, which may affect their chance of an "I do" at the altar.
57 college presidents declare support for public access to publicly funded research in the US
The Presidents of 57 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., representing 22 states, have declared their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 1373) in an Open Letter released today.
New chemically-activated antigen could expedite development of HIV vaccine
Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) report they have created the first antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of blocking infection of human cells by genetically-diverse strains of HIV.
After years of toil, sustaining change in education still a vexing problem
Researchers in the Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE) this year finished poring over more than 65,000 abstracts and nearly 600 full-text articles for insights regarding how to make lasting change in the literature of education, health, marketing, business and economics.
Study: Higher education playing bigger role in gender wage gap
While higher education has helped women narrow their long-running wage gap with men, there is one college-related factor that has becoming increasingly important in perpetuating that gap, according to new research.
Scientists refine, redefine seawater equation
This summer, one of the world's leading ocean science bodies, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) adopted the new international thermodynamic equation of state for seawater called TEOS-10.
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