Dancing with the Elephant in the Room: Working-Class Boys and Progression to Higher Education

Six years ago HEPI published the report Boys to Men: The underachievement of young men in higher education – and how to start tackling it in an attempt to grapple with one of the UK education system’s most persistent challenges: the gap in GCSE outcomes and progression to Higher Education for young working-class men.

Whilst at the time the report provoked a good deal of discussion amongst those engaged in HE policy, it’s fair to say that on the ground it prompted very little new activity. In an OfS review of new Access and Participation Plans in 2019, it was highlighted that of 838 targets set relating to university access, success and progression by providers, only 11 gave specific mention to white working-class males.

We’re now over half a decade on from the report, and find ourselves confronting the fact that the rate of progression to Higher Education for the group is still at a dismal 14%.

From inertia to action

Is it because the sector has tried to engage with the issue and failed? Or is it because we haven’t really tried at all? Sadly, I believe it to be the latter. The contributory elements to the disparity in educational outcomes are complex, they’re messy, and can be difficult to engage in a meaningful, constructive discussion around. All too often the issue is mobilised by agendas that seek to sow division, and it comes at the expense of creating a future where our young men can expect to lead happy, secure, and fulfilled lives.

We spend time doing nothing because it’s easier than doing something. Waiting for someone to tell us ‘what works’. To hand us a silver bullet so we can tackle the issue quickly, efficiently, and with minimal fuss.

Well, if that is what we’re waiting for we’ll be waiting a long time. And whilst we do the eight out of ten boys on Free School Meals in my locality will continue not to achieve a 9-5 in GCSE Maths and English each year. Structurally ruling them out of future opportunities for study, and further entrenching systemic inequalities within our education system.

So, let’s do something about it.

The “Taking Boys Seriously” project

In September 2022 Arts University Bournemouth held a conference which brought together HE practitioners and researchers from across the UK. Convened in partnership with the universities of Portsmouth and Winchester, the event brought leading experts together with widening participation professionals, examining the issue to drive forward a collective approach to action.

The conference centralised the importance of negotiations surrounding masculinity. It explored how intersecting experiences based on young mens’ social, geographic and historical location played out in their lives as learners in a classroom. And perhaps most importantly, it provided a platform for the voices of young men to be heard, challenging assumptive notions of who working-class boys are, what they like, and how they conceive their future selves.

The day prompted discussion on how the sector could refocus its efforts. Concentrating less on the what of delivering activity, and more on the how we go about it. It presented the Taking Boys Seriously key principles as an evidence base for piloting new activity, and launched a new dashboard on boys GCSE outcomes for universities to use in strategic targeting of initiatives. A tool allowing institutions to take a data-led approach in activity designed to raise the pre-16 attainment of working-class boys.

It was a call to action. The key principles and the dashboard provide a guiding light. A way that practitioners can mobilise any subject area or specialism as a tool for exploration, in a way that’s meaningful for young working-class men.

But the challenge is substantial, and given the sparsity of activity currently taking place, it’s urgent.

What next for working-class boys and higher education?

Institutions taking the lessons learned from the conference and individually applying them in practice, would be better than our current position, but it will not be enough.

The day called for a collective approach to action in this space. One which provides the bandwidth to tailor activity which meets the needs of our young men and their communities at a local level. One in which Higher Education institutions can be a convening force, demonstrating a civic commitment to supporting young men on Free School Meals in their localities through collaborative action. One which includes schools, community groups, third sector organisations, and, most importantly, the young people themselves.

The conference presented a vision for a series of Boys’ Impact Hubs. Regional groups that brought together key stakeholders from education, the community and the local authority to pilot activity designed to support working-class boys’ attainment.

With the Taking Boys Seriously principles and dashboard, universities already have the how. By convening the right stakeholders around the table, the what and the when can easily take place.

Institutions wouldn’t be doing it alone either. Each of the Impact Hub Leads would form part of a Boys’ Impact Coalition. A national group that would champion good practice, support evaluation, and have a national voice in issues related to inequality, education and progression to level 4 study for all boys from working-class backgrounds.

It’s a fantastic vision, however at present it is just that. A vision for what could be. For it to become a reality, it will need HE professionals to be bold in their willingness to try something new. In the near future, there will be an online meeting. The meeting will convene practitioners from across the country to discuss turning this vision into a reality. You can express an interest in joining it here.

In the meantime, an important first step would be ensuring that when the OfS review of new Access and Participation Plans for 2024 is conducted, targets relating to supporting working-class boys’ attainment are significantly better represented.

About the author

Having completed his doctoral research in inequality and access to Higher Education for working-class boys in 2020 at the University of Wolverhampton, Dr Alex Blower joined Arts University Bournemouth as Access and Participation Manager in early 2021. Alongside the work Alex and the team deliver institutionally, he also advocates for evidence-based approaches to engagement with working-class boys across the sector. He speaks regularly on the subject at national Higher Education research and practitioner conferences, and is a regular contributor to sector wide discussion, writing for organisations such as the Higher Education Policy Institute, Society for Research in Higher Education and WonkHE.