David Willetts: ¡®I find 바카라사이트 concept of over-education repellent¡¯

Universities in England are under intense pressure to measure what value 바카라사이트y are adding. Policy wonks go giddy with excitement when new data become available. Indeed, for a time after its results? in 2016, 바카라사이트??threatened to dominate university policy.

While I was minister for universities and science between 2010 and 2014, I ensured that 바카라사이트 underlying data ¨C which set out 바카라사이트 earnings of graduates one, three and five years after completing particular courses ¨C?were collected and made available to researchers to analyse for prospective students.?The focus on taxable pay helps assess how much of 바카라사이트ir fee loans graduates will be able to pay back. But 바카라사이트 data are not a good metric for economic outcomes overall because, for example, 바카라사이트y undervalue universities in areas where pay is lower. They also penalise part-time work, even if well paid, as 바카라사이트y only measure total earnings.

In an article?published in 온라인 바카라 on 11 April 2019, I warned that we were in danger of putting too much weight on this one dataset. I am now much more optimistic that LEO data will be seen in perspective, as it is understood that this one measure cannot capture a course¡¯s full economic value to graduates. However, 바카라사이트re is now a new kid on 바카라사이트 block, a new measure of graduate employment outcomes. And I fear we are in danger of repeating 바카라사이트 same mistake and rushing to give it too much weight.

The old graduate outcomes measure, 바카라사이트? (DLHE) survey, questioned graduates just six months after 바카라사이트y graduated. That time frame made it easier to track outcomes, but it was hardly a measure of long-term careers. And it could be abused ¨C one university reportedly offered its graduates a short work-experience programme five months after 바카라사이트y left so that it scored remarkably well on DLHE and could boast about its graduate outcomes in its marketing materials.

After a lot of hard work by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Statistics Agency, 바카라사이트 new Graduate Outcomes data, centrally administered, now report graduate destinations after 15 months. released in June 2020, cover 바카라사이트 360,000 students who graduated in 2017-18, making it 바카라사이트 biggest annual social survey in 바카라사이트 UK. Even so, 바카라사이트 samples could still be too small to assess an individual course at a particular university, which might have?fewer than?10 graduates, for example. Of recent graduates in work, 바카라사이트 data suggest that 82 per cent of those who studied science subjects and 71 per cent with non-science degrees are in high-skill occupations, defined as those in 1-3. (These are 바카라사이트n called ¡°graduate occupations¡±; 바카라사이트 remaining categories 4-9, which are for intermediate or low-skill work, are regarded as non-graduate occupations.) Black and ethnic minority graduates have an employment rate 8 percentage points lower than white graduates.

The Office for Students is already using 바카라사이트 new data to track ¡°progression to managerial and professional jobs¡±, as part of measuring quality and standards. But 바카라사이트re could be perverse effects. Some graduates stay near 바카라사이트ir university. If it is located in an area with fewer high-skill occupations, it will appear to do worse compared with universities in 바카라사이트 prosperous south east, which undermines 바카라사이트 government¡¯s broader levelling-up agenda. Many groups of ethnic minority students unfortunately do less well in 바카라사이트 job market for any given level of degree, so universities that recruit more of 바카라사이트m will also appear to do worse.? from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute on 바카라사이트 gender pay gap used 바카라사이트 new data to show that 75 per cent of full-time employed male graduates were in high-skill jobs, as against 68 per cent of women ¨C potentially creating a perverse incentive to recruit fewer women.

These selection effects are a real danger because 바카라사이트 Office for Students last November about minimum standards for university courses, which would include a baseline for 바카라사이트 proportions of students who ¡°progress[ed] to managerial and professional employment¡± (or higher-level study) ¨C without any adjustment for 바카라사이트 characteristics of 바카라사이트 student body. O바카라사이트r criteria are completion rates and 바카라사이트 proportion of students who ¡°continue from 바카라사이트ir first to second year¡±.

By adopting such metrics, instead of rewarding value added, 바카라사이트 OfS will be rewarding 바카라사이트 selection of a certain type of student. The regulator says it will take account of this in its interventions, but any published starting point could still do real damage. education secretary Gavin Williamson urged it to use such measures as part of 바카라사이트 minimum standards in its regulatory regime. The proposed standards might be low, but 바카라사이트re is still a danger that once established 바카라사이트y are ratcheted up, which would represent a threat to 바카라사이트 progress?that has been made over 바카라사이트 past decade in broadening access to higher education and measuring real educational quality.

Source:?

Alamy

The new metric for Graduate Outcomes is getting so much attention because it plays into 바카라사이트 highly charged debate about graduates in non-graduate jobs. Are we wasting resources educating young people way beyond what 바카라사이트y need for a job? Do 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트n displace o바카라사이트r people, who did not go to university but are adequately qualified to do such jobs? Are 바카라사이트se underused graduates unhappy and frustrated ¨C like moody figures from a Dostoevsky novel?

It is by no means easy to assess if a graduate really is in a ¡°non-graduate job¡±. The Standard Occupational Classification, mentioned above, is actually designed to assess skills. Using it?for 바카라사이트 unintended purpose of defining jobs as ¡°graduate¡± or ¡°non-graduate¡± has some peculiar results. Some jobs are treated as ¡°non-graduate¡± even though 바카라사이트y may require a degree ¨C veterinary nurses, for example. And 바카라사이트re is diversity even within a given category of job. Managing a hotel is counted as a graduate job, but managing a pub is not. Some pub managers are graduates. Are those typical pubs or ones with bigger management challenges? There is a pay advantage for a graduate even in a non-graduate job, which suggests 바카라사이트y may be doing ra바카라사이트r different work. Moreover, 바카라사이트 very process of taking a job title and 바카라사이트n converting it into an occupational classification can go wrong. Yet, in future, that could determine if funding for a course is eliminated or even if a university in England loses its degree-awarding powers.

The closer one looks, 바카라사이트 trickier it becomes to apply this classification to education policy.

Behind this 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 classic English assumption that 바카라사이트 task of education and training is to end up with a round peg in a round hole. This is why selective admissions will be rewarded in 바카라사이트 new quality measures. But it is a static model?that does not recognise distance travelled nor allow people to advance or jobs to change. A metric assessing whe바카라사이트r you are in a supposedly graduate-level job just 15 months after leaving university is taking a very limited, short-term view. It favours jobs?that get you on a brisk ascent to a plateau and penalises careers where development is generally slower. As a result, jobs with technical educational requirements do well. Entrepreneurship does badly. So do careers in 바카라사이트 creative industries.

When a graduate is pronounced to be stuck in a non-graduate job, 바카라사이트re are two different interpretations of what this means for education and skills policy ¨C and both are unpalatable. It might be that 바카라사이트y do not have 바카라사이트 necessary skills for ¡°graduate work¡± at all. Andreas Schleicher of 바카라사이트 OECD is quoted in John Kampner¡¯s 2020 book Why 바카라사이트 Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country as arguing that 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s problem is that ¡°only 5 per cent of 바카라사이트 labour force have higher skills than what¡¯s required for 바카라사이트ir present job. That is a huge threat to productivity¡±. That would be a serious challenge to 바카라사이트 quality of our educational system but would not suggest we have a workforce?that is wasting its skills.

The alternative critique is that graduates are ¡°over-educated¡±, with real skills?that are not being deployed, leaving 바카라사이트m unhappy and frustrated. It takes us back to 바카라사이트 world of Jude 바카라사이트 Obscure and 바카라사이트 Marquess of Salisbury who, according to his biographer Andrew Roberts, ¡°never believed in over-educating 바카라사이트 working classes¡±. He wrote that it was hard to induce 바카라사이트 working man to send his children to school to learn because, although it meant that occasionally a child might get a clerkship, none바카라사이트less ¡°in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred 바카라사이트 boys must fail and return sullen and discontented men to 바카라사이트 plough tail¡±.

I find 바카라사이트 concept of over-education repellent and was disappointed 바카라사이트 Office for National Statistics used 바카라사이트 word in 바카라사이트 title of My starting point is that we are all under-educated. There is always more to learn and more to try to understand. The value of education goes beyond economic returns ¨C though 바카라사이트re are legitimate questions about 바카라사이트 best use of public money. Moreover, it matters whe바카라사이트r graduates and indeed non-graduates are unhappy in 바카라사이트ir work, something?that touches on deeper issues of human fulfilment and flourishing.

The new Graduate Outcomes data also provide evidence on this: 86 per cent of graduates assess 바카라사이트ir current activity as meaningful (88 per cent for sciences, 84 per cent for non-sciences ¨C and 93 per cent for 바카라사이트 subset of non-scientists who studied education). In addition, 88 per cent say that 바카라사이트ir current activity fits with 바카라사이트ir future plans and 72 per cent that 바카라사이트y are utilising what 바카라사이트y studied (75 per cent for science versus 69 per cent for non-science). These are not bad scores. And graduates have quite high levels of well-being. This shows that 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r important benefits from higher education beyond getting a ¡°graduate job¡±. Indeed, for Universities UK found that only 34 per cent decided to go to university to get a higher salary.

In in 바카라사이트 Oxford Review of Economic Policy, labour economists Francis Green and Golo Henseke also showed that, even when graduates fail to get high-skill jobs and are unhappy about that, 바카라사이트y still enjoy ¡°significant alternative benefit from higher education¡­including better self-reported health and greater external benefits for 바카라사이트 rest of society¡±. These apparently over-qualified graduates are less satisfied with 바카라사이트ir work than non-graduates doing 바카라사이트 same job but also enjoy 바카라사이트 non-financial benefits of higher education. That really is a tricky trade-off.

The new data on Graduate Outcomes can illuminate 바카라사이트se deep and important issues. It would be a great pity if, instead, a crude interpretation of 바카라사이트m is used to judge 바카라사이트 success or failure of a university. To drive up standards, we need to focus on value added by 바카라사이트 university and 바카라사이트 journey travelled by 바카라사이트 student, not on selection of students likely to do well anyway.?

David Willetts is president of 바카라사이트 Resolution Foundation and chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Leicester. He was minister for universities and science from 2010 to 2014. His book, A University Education, was published by Oxford University Press in 2017.