Growing demand, widening participation and the skills agenda HEA Forward-Look Forum, 31 May 2017 Claire Callender Professor of Higher Education UCL, Institute of Education and Birkbeck c.callender@bbk.ac.uk
Outline How has demand for Higher Education changed over time? What are the key factors impacting on student demand? Widening participation Graduate labour market
3 Changing Student Demand
Growth of Higher Education in Ireland 1969/70 to 2014/15 4 Source: Derived from Clancy 2015 and HEA various
Growth in HE enrolments by sector, 2006/07 and 2015/16 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 2006/07 2010/11 2015/16 Universities Institutes of Technology 5 Source: Derived from HEA various years
Growth in HE enrolments by mode and level of study, 2007/8 and 2015/16 200,000 180,000 160,000 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Full time Part-time All Full time Part-time All 2007/08 2015/16 Undergraduates Postgraduates 6 Source: Derived from HEA various years
7 Factors impacting on demand
Factors impacting on student demand Young people s attitudes Education achievement (level 3) STUDENT DEMAND Changes in the labour market Demographic change HE Institutions policy Government policy
9 Educational attainment
National Leaving Certificate Retention Rate by DEIS Designation 2001 to 2009 (%) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 92 85 82.7 68.2 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 DEIS Non-DEIS Source: Department for Education and Skills, 2015
Socio-economic background of new entrants to higher education in 2011 (18 20 year olds) Socio-economic group General population aged 17-19 number and % New entrants, aged 18-20 number and % Estimated participation rate Employers and managers 10,531 (19%) 6,617 (23%) 64% Higher professional 3,222 (6%) 3,842 (13%) 119% Lower professional 6,790 (12%) 3,229 (11%) 48% Non-manual workers 13,976 (25%) 3,154 (11%) 23% Manual skilled workers 7,429 (13%) 3,800 (13%) 51% Semi-skilled workers 7,531 (13%) 1,840 (6%) 24% Unskilled workers 3,064 (5%) 751 (3%) 25% Own account workers 1,963 (3%) 2,860 (10%) 146% Farmers 1,620 (3%) 2,692 (9%) 166% Agricultural workers 470 (1%) 280 (1%) 60% Total 56,596 (100%) 29,164 (100%) 52% 11 Source: National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019
Participation in higher education by socioeconomic status and prior academic attainment, 2009 12
Composition of full-time undergraduate population by socio-economic group and sector, 2015/16 (%) Employer and Manager Higher Professional Lower Professional Non-Manual Skilled Manual Semi-skilled Unskilled Own Account Farmers Agricultural Workers Other/unknown 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 University IoT/Colleges 13 Source: Equal Access Survey, 2016
Socio-economic groups and selected undergraduate subjects, 2013/14 Selected subjects All subjects Socio-economic group Medicine / Dentistry Pharmacy Veterinary Medicine Law Teacher Training Employers and managers 18% 14% 26% 28% 27% 21% Higher professional 44% 25% 19% 23% 8% 13% Lower professional 13% 10% 10% 11% 15% 11% Non-manual workers 7% 10% 7% 11% 8% 12% Manual skilled workers 3% 8% 4% 8% 10% 13% Semi/unskilled and agricultural workers 4% 6% 6% 8% 9% 13% Own account workers 5% 11% 1% 6% 9% 9% Farmers 7% 14% 25% 5% 16% 8% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 14 Source: National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019
Summary: The demand for HE in Ireland and widening participation Demand for HE and pace of growth varies considerably by sector, level and mode of study - there are very different HE markets Demand driven by rising educational attainment in schools. Demand will continue HE participation varies massively by socio-economic background and much of this gap can be explained by prior attainment Social selectivity complemented by further selectivity by sector, qualification aim, and field of study. Educational expansion and differentiation has both reduced socio-economic inequality and magnified inequalities. Only achieve equality in access to HE when demand amongst the highest social classes has been saturated, only then - with the continued expansion of HE - will we see greater equality and widening participation. 15
Questions Do these inequalities in HE access matter? Is changing them a priority to? 16
Questions What are the levers for change and who pulls them? 17
Changes in the graduate labour market 18
Green, F. and G. Henseke (2016). "The Changing Graduate Labour Market: Analysis Using a New Indicator of Graduate Jobs". IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 5:14. Green, F. and G. Henseke (2017 - forthcoming). Graduates and Graduate Jobs in Europe: A Picture of Growth and Diversification. Discussion Paper, Centre for Global Higher Education, UCL Institute of Education (http://www.researchcghe.org/). 19
The high skills supply and demand race - Optimists Focus on what has been happening to the earnings premiums or returns to HE associated with achieving a higher education qualification the sustained high earnings premiums reflect implicit high growth in demand for graduate skills strong contributions to economic growth
The high skills supply and demand race -Pessimists Focuses on indicators of the demand for skills Questions if modern technology really does require increasing and higher level skills High-skills demand determined more by employer strategies than the supply of high skills IT has encouraged digital Taylorism Some high-skills demand need not be fulfilled graduates Rising underutilisation of graduates skills in the workplace more graduates working in non-graduate jobs Stable graduate earnings premiums are no guarantee that graduates are not underutilising their skills
Level of tertiary educational attainment 2004 & 2015 (30-34 years) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 South Central Anglo Nordic 52.3 38.6 2015 2004 Source:EU-LFS. Eurostat figures, Green and Henseke, 2017
Gap in tertiary education between 30-34 and 50-64 years olds, 2015 South Central Anglo Nordic 24.0 21.0 18.0 15.0 12.0 9.0 6.0 3.0 0.0 21.2 Source: EU-LFS. Eurostat figures, Green and Henseke, 2017
-.5 0.5 Patterns of job polarisation, 2004-2015 Population weighted country averages, 2004-2015 0.573 0.545 0.393 0.120 0.132 0.220-0.116-0.162-0.301-0.520-0.466-0.396 Low Med Hi Low Med Hi Low Med Hi Low Med Hi South Central Anglo Nordic Source: EU-LFS, Green and Henseke, 2017 24
Finland Poland Norway Germany Cyprus Italy Sweden Netherlands Slovakia Belgium Spain France Austria Denmark Estonia United States United Kingdom Korea Ireland Canada Czech Japan Graduate underemployment across the OECD, 2011 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 37.1% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Source: Adapted from Green and Henseke (2016).
-5 0 5 10 Change in the proportion of employed graduates in medium-skilled or low-skilled jobs, (25-29 year olds), 2004-2015 10.36 7.97 7.27 3.37 4.06 3.13 3.62 3.93 3.93 1.86 1.60 0.89-1.85-0.83 France Greece Italy Portugal Spain -4.88-3.45 Austria Belgium Germany Netherlands Switzerland Ireland United Kingdom Denmark Finland Norway Sweden South Continent Anglo Nordic Source: Green and Henseke, 2017 26
Wage differential between tertiary and (upper-) secondary education, 2003 and 2013 South Central Anglo Nordic 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 54.8% 47.3% Source: EU-SILC, Green and Henseke, 2017 2013* 2003*
Average annual growth rate The change in real gross earnings of graduates in high-skills employment, 2003-2013 6.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 0.0-2.0-0.2-1.5 0.0 1.7 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.8 0.9-0.9 0.9 1.7 1.5-4.0-6.0-4.6-8.0-7.3 28 Source: Green and Henseke, 2017
Summary: The graduate labour market in Ireland By 2015, Ireland had the highest proportion of tertiary educated workers in its labour force and this supply will continue to grow Employment in both low skilled and high skilled occupations has grown, especially high skilled. Employment in intermediate skilled jobs - classic middle class jobs - has shrunk. Ireland evolving into an hour glass economy Underemployment of graduates is rising The graduate earning premium is considerable and is holding up 29
Questions Are you an optimist or pessimist in terms of the future growth in demand for graduates? What are the implications of your decision for the HE sector? 30