9: Collective Responsibility and Collaborative Action: Universities and Employers in Pursuit of Social Mobility

The correlation between social background, and future educational and occupational outcomes, is strengthening in the UK. It is getting harder to ignore the implications, as they manifest themselves in our economic and political fabric. Even when talented young people overcome barriers at a particular stage of their journey to the workplace, new barriers present themselves at the next. For example, it has been assumed historically that gaining access to university has a levelling effect: once you are in, you will get ahead. This is a myth. Those, for whom the cost of higher education is most significant, often benefit the least. This chapter explores why this is currently the case, and what can be done to narrow the gap in graduate outcomes by socio-economic background.