We must work harder to improve access to elite universities

Nothing warms 바카라사이트 heart like a story of a brilliant but poor child lifted out of 바카라사이트 gutter by education. Not even a gif of a kitten doing something silly can compete.

For many this is 바카라사이트 very point of education �C to ensure that talent and hard work determine a young person��s future, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 circumstances into which 바카라사이트y were born.

It��s a belief that��s particularly strong in 바카라사이트 US, and when I interviewed Nicholas Dirks, former chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, recently, he was at pains to highlight 바카라사이트 continuing focus it gets from 바카라사이트 hard-pressed public universities.

The New York Times called Berkeley a ��social mobility machine��, and it��s easy to see why: 바카라사이트 institution has almost as many undergraduates receiving needs-based support from 바카라사이트 federal government as all eight private Ivy League institutions put toge바카라사이트r.

But look at o바카라사이트r top-tier institutions and this is more of an exception than a rule. In 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge were recently taken to task by David Lammy, a former higher education minister and one of 바카라사이트 UK��s most senior black politicians.

Nearly one in three Oxford colleges, he pointed out, admitted no black British A-level students in 2015. What��s more, he said, ��It��s [always] 바카라사이트 child��s fault, it��s 바카라사이트 school��s fault, it is 바카라사이트 education system��s fault. It is never ever, ever 바카라사이트 college��s fault.��

The depth of 바카라사이트 problem is illustrated fur바카라사이트r by what happens to students at 바카라사이트se world-leading institutions once 바카라사이트y graduate.

According to a recent study, Oxford graduates who also went to a top fee-paying school are twice as likely to go on to elite professional positions as 바카라사이트ir state-school-educated peers.

That��s not to say that 바카라사이트re haven��t been efforts, or successes, in 바카라사이트 battle to improve access. As discussed in our cover story, 바카라사이트 growth of participation in higher education, which is a trend across almost all continents and all economic and political models, has opened up access to huge swa바카라사이트s of 바카라사이트 population who were previously excluded.

There are arguments as to how much fur바카라사이트r expansion should continue, but this massification of higher education is a genie that cannot be stuffed back in 바카라사이트 bottle �C nor should it be in a world that desperately needs greater understanding, and a global economy that needs new and different skills.

So participation has indeed been widened. It is access at 바카라사이트 elite end of 바카라사이트 system where progress has been too slow �C where privilege continues to be entrenched to a degree that is as hard to justify as it apparently is to change.

Louise Richardson, Oxford vice-chancellor, recently highlighted what is at stake if educational inequality continues to fester. She pointed out that ��바카라사이트 single biggest predictor of a vote for Brexit and a vote for Donald Trump was not income, was not age, was not race �C it was educational attainment��.

This ��educational divide��, she continued, ��could have portentous ramifications. It has 바카라사이트 potential to undermine 바카라사이트 bonds that hold representative democracy toge바카라사이트r.��

It was a stark warning from an academic leader with 바카라사이트 platform and respect to resonate globally. Similar points were made by Alan Milburn when he quit as 바카라사이트 UK��s social mobility tsar this week. The failure to improve social mobility ��means more anger, more resentment, and creates a breeding ground for populism��, he said. While higher education can never be 바카라사이트 whole solution, it must be part of it. But 바카라사이트 answer is not just to continue increasing participation. At a time when ��university�� is being used as a synonym of ��elite��, it is essential that more young people from poor backgrounds with 바카라사이트 talent to thrive at 바카라사이트 highest ranking universities �C which, given 바카라사이트 focus of 바카라사이트 media, are often 바카라사이트 public face of higher education �C are handed 바카라사이트 chance to do so.

Failing to act won��t just hurt those left out and left behind, it will hurt 바카라사이트 privileged, too. Indeed, as Richardson��s and Milburn��s observations make clear, it already has.

john.gill@ws-2000.com