It takes more than a degree to the smash the class ceiling | Letters

Prof Shitij Kapur’s argument that the UK has a “surfeit” of graduates and that degrees have shifted from a “passport” to a mere “visa” for social mobility is misleading (UK university degree no longer ‘passport to social mobility’, says King’s vice-chancellor, 3 January).

Social mobility is not solely about having a degree. It is rooted in class, region, race, prejudice, discrimination and socioeconomic status, a consequence of which is what Daniel Laurison and Sam Friedman’s research shows as a “class ceiling” in action. This concept privileges those from higher socioeconomic groups when graduates are seeking employment. A good job is central to increasing social mobility. If access to this is barred by prejudice and discrimination, social capital reduces, and this strangles social mobility.

Kapur, the vice-chancellor of King’s College London, has a narrow view of a UK graduate; the introduction of degree apprenticeships across a broad range of disciplines has diversified the higher education population considerably. Apprentices leave with sound academic qualifications and robust employment skills.

Kapur’s visa and passport concept is interesting, but I have a different take. It is widely recognised that a degree (visa) is necessary but insufficient on its own. It will get you an interview, but demonstration of employability skills that employers seek is the “passport” to success in securing the job. Hence, universities’ increased focus on developing all students’ employability skills.

The issue facing the UK is not an excess of graduates. It is a shortage of political ambition, a weak industrial strategy, and lack of investment in an economy that employs the talent it already has.

Kapur is correct in that the labour market has changed. The graduate premium has narrowed, but graduates continue to earn significantly more than non-graduates, competition is fierce, and the promise of automatic mobility has declined. This is not a result of too many graduates. It is a failure of government and employers. The UK’s challenge is not too many graduates. It is that this country, unlike many European contemporaries, has failed to build an economy able to utilise its highly educated workforce.

This is striking in Stem subjects (science technology engineering and mathematics), a consequence of which is an increasing loss of world-class scientists from the UK.
Prof Patrick Callaghan
London South Bank University

It was demoralising to read Professor Shitij Kapur’s comments about the value, purpose and challenges of contemporary higher education. It is bizarre to describe a degree as a passport (or visa) for employment or social mobility without referencing the vital role of education, learning and personal growth in shaping student outcomes.

For a UK vice-chancellor to describe any graduate as “surplus” – as though student success can only be measured in terms of contribution to GDP – is deeply concerning. There is much that we can and should debate about tuition fees, student debt, employability and the cost of education. However, claiming that there could ever be a surfeit of critical thinking, literacy or imagination when democratic values around the world are in decline seems a very slippery slope.
Dr Campbell Edinborough
Associate professor in creative practice, University of Leeds

By stating that UK universities no longer offer “a passport to social mobility”, Prof Shitij Kapur’s is simply reiterating what many in the top universities have long felt about the 50% target in higher education. Despite progress in widening participation, many disadvantaged students still face significant barriers in applying to universities like King’s College London and getting good jobs after graduation.

What would really help students from poorer backgrounds improve their life chances is if social mobility was a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, like age, race, sex, and disability. The Trades Union Congress, the Social Mobility Commission and the Co-operative Group have all campaigned for this change. However, to date universities have remained strangely quiet on the subject.
Nicholas Milton
Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire