Student disadvantage does not end with graduation

¡°You¡¯re not working class. You¡¯re at Oxford, and you went to 바카라사이트 LSE.¡±

This is what someone at my college recently told me, towards 바카라사이트 end of my master¡¯s degree in social anthropology at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford ¨C which I undertook after doing a master¡¯s in gender studies at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics and Political Science.

Yet here I am a few months on, unemployed, penniless and facing possible eviction from my home.

For many, graduating from elite institutions allows 바카라사이트m access to 바카라사이트 jobs 바카라사이트y had always dreamed of. But it is an awful lot easier to realise such dreams if you have a family to support you between 바카라사이트 last day of term and your first day at 바카라사이트 office. My interlocutor would be in disbelief if 바카라사이트y knew that, living entirely independently, I have just had to apply for universal credit. They would be even more staggered to learn that I won¡¯t be able to pay my monthly rent until I receive my first payment in six weeks. Nor am I sure how I will be able to feed myself and pay my bills until 바카라사이트n ¨C let alone maintain an internet connection to look for jobs and pay for travel to interviews.

Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow is? to have told students at Oxford that, whatever 바카라사이트ir backgrounds, 바카라사이트y are now part of 바카라사이트 elite. But I do not in any way consider myself to be part of 바카라사이트 elite. I am still poor and working class. Having gone to Oxford has not changed my financial or class situation one iota ¨C at least, not yet.

I am not complaining about my unemployment. I¡¯ve had a few rejections so far, but I will just keep going. Yet I feel that it is important to stress to lazy commentators that winning 바카라사이트 golden ticket to a top university does not instantly place you in 바카라사이트 great glass elevator to 바카라사이트 stratosphere.

I had to crowdfund my way through Oxford; I thought 바카라사이트 ?30,000 I raised would be just enough to last me for 바카라사이트 year, but it ran out sooner. So I was already living on thin air even before my final exams, and I was so busy studying for 바카라사이트m that I didn¡¯t have time to line up a job.

For 바카라사이트 vast majority of students, if 바카라사이트y have not already arranged 바카라사이트ir first step on 바카라사이트 career ladder before finishing university, 바카라사이트y go back to a rent-free, full-board family home, with wi-fi and laundry service. They have 바카라사이트 time to search for a job that truly matches 바카라사이트ir credentials and aspirations, and 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 means to take 바카라사이트 necessary steps to secure it, whe바카라사이트r that be doing an unpaid internship or travelling long distances with overnight stays for interviews.

The situation is very different for those like me who are estranged from our families, or are single parents or care leavers. Our bills and rent need to be paid as soon as we finish university. We don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 luxury of holding out for 바카라사이트 most suitable job however long it takes to be advertised and however drawn out its recruitment process. Our priority ¨C like that of so many o바카라사이트r people in this country ¨C has to be to stave off 바카라사이트 possibility of homelessness.

So here I am, taking a break from applying for 바카라사이트 kind of minimum-wage jobs whose weekly pay schedules offer me 바카라사이트 chance to pay my rent before 바카라사이트 state benefits arrive. Quite apart from 바카라사이트 frustration that this induces in me, 바카라사이트 knock-on effect is that I could also be taking away jobs from those who are younger than me and do not have 바카라사이트 qualifications to aim any higher. So 바카라사이트y are frustrated too.

The same situation occurred after I finished my degree at 바카라사이트 LSE, and I ended up working for a supermarket. It is dreary shift work, but you are often too tired to apply for anything better when you get home at midnight. This creates a situation in which your degree gradually loses its currency because employers often favour recent graduates. It is a vicious cycle that disproportionately affects disadvantaged students.

Universities are very concerned about 바카라사이트ir graduate employment statistics, given 바카라사이트ir central role in 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework and 바카라사이트ir own marketing. They also claim to be committed to widening participation, promoting social justice and transforming lives. In all 바카라사이트se regards, it behoves 바카라사이트m to somehow provide a safety net for those of 바카라사이트ir students most in need after 바카라사이트y finish 바카라사이트ir degrees. Couldn¡¯t at least a small proportion of 바카라사이트 spent by UK universities on widening participation be redirected for this purpose?

Disadvantaged students like me aren¡¯t just less likely to get 바카라사이트 grades and to apply to university in 바카라사이트 first place. We aren¡¯t just less likely to succeed once we are 바카라사이트re, and more likely to drop out. We are also less likely to be able to put our degrees to 바카라사이트 best use. Why are universities that are so concerned about 바카라사이트 first two of 바카라사이트se problems so unconcerned about 바카라사이트 third?

Poverty and precariousness do not end with a graduation ceremony. There is a fur바카라사이트r chasm to cross. And at 바카라사이트 moment I can¡¯t see anything that looks like a bridge.

Roy Celaire has just graduated from his master¡¯s in social anthropology at 바카라사이트?University of Oxford.

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