Gendered Choices and Transitions: part-time pathways, full-time lives

1. Gendered Choices and Transitions: part-time pathways, full-time lives NON PARTICIPATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION ‘Gender, life stage and educational decision-making: Researching adult ‘non-participation’ in Higher Education’ Alison Fuller Paper presented to Women in Lifelong Learning Network Conference 18 May, 2007 Birkbeck, University of London

2. Structure of Presentation • Background to our research • Overview of project • Population evidence from the LFS • Vignette illustrating gender, life-stage and class influences on decision-making • Conclusions

3. Background to our research • Policy and research interest in widening participation in HE • 50% of 18-30s target • Persistently uneven patterns of participation across the population • ESRC TLRP funded projects

4. Research Project: Aims • To examine the extent to which HE is conceived as within the bounds of the possible for ‘potentially recruitable’ but ‘non-participating’ adults • To explore how attitudes to HE and decisions about participation are distributed across, embedded and negotiated within inter-generational ‘networks of intimacy’

5. Interview Samples • Focus of our entry point sampling strategy: - Level 3 as highest qualification - Gender, life stage and other factors incl. generation, SEG, employment status, age, occupation, geographical location • 16 networks, members approx. 5 nominated by entry point further diversify sample

6. Theoretical Orientations • Life-course and stage in context (history, biography and structure) • Changing relationship between individual and society • Inter-relationship between forms of social inequality • Decision-making as a personal and collective process

7. Evidence from LFS • The Labour Force Survey provides a useful dataset for investigating the characteristics of people with different levels of qualifications and outcomes • % of economically active population with highest level of qualification in Great Britain: • level 3: 20 %, • level 4+:30 % • Below level 3: 50 %

8. Highest Qualification by Age and Gender - % of age cohort

9. Highest Qualification, Additional Qualifications, Gender and Occupational Structure • L3 Females are less likely than L3 malesto be in highest status occupations (16% v 24%) • 44% of females with L4+ qualifications are in ‘top’ occupations, (62% of males) • At all qualification levels females less likely than males to be in top occupations BUT • Females at all Q levels more likely to be pursuing additional Qs, gap exists controlling for marital status and for number of children

10. Vignette • A. is female 32, married, 2 children aged 6 (autistic) and 3; father mechanic, mother shop worker, “white British” employed part-time HR administrator, left school at 16 some grade C GCSEs, initial post-comp ed. secretarial quals, now has NVQ3 in office administration and works part-time as an HR administrator in Health Authority

11. Gendered and Classed Early Transitions • Transition from compulsory to post-compulsory education and to work • parents’ attitude to education and work • Gender stereotypical area of study and occupation • ‘Normal’ biography (non-decision making?)

12. Illustrative quotations • A. Because my parents, they’re very sort of, my dad’s a car mechanic and my mum has just worked in shops and done bar work…they’ve never thought that gaining A levels was… a route that was worth doing…I’d talk about some careers and they’d say well love you have to be clever to do that • Int. So why did you choose to do those subjects [office/secretarial at college] as distinct from anything else though? • A. …I just didn’t really...think I could do a lot else. I didn’t want to work in a shop…I liked erm typing

13. Current life-stage: gendered decisions – constraints on ‘choice’ • Gender stereotypical divisions between A and her partner • Distribution of caring responsibilities • Part-time/full-time working • Partner has recently finished PT HND in building surveying, now working FT as surveyor

14. Illustrative quotations • Int. Do you think you’d like to do it [become health professional] now? • A. I’ve looked into things like that but they’re full-time and there’s a limited erm… colleges in the UK. So you know it would mean moving off to, and I can’t do that now with young children…I’d like to be a dietician…I mean that’s four years of full-time study and you …can’t do it • …some [time] this term, we need to determine where, which school [pre-school] he’s [3 yr old] going to do it, and how I’m going to juggle. Taking one to X and one to Y and getting back to pick them up and work in the middle some.

15. Anticipating the Future • A has desire to pursue a career which will involve higher level study • Her expanded ‘horizon for action’ created by development of social capital – ‘bridging and bonding’ • female colleagues/mothers who’ve done it and partner’s experience • Anticipated life-stage

16. Illustrative Quotation • I meet amazing people in my job now and I think wow. I mean we’ve got nurses qualifying all the time…that have been like NA’s for years…they had children…they do it and I just really like that…you can go off and do things…in life

17. Gender, life-stage, class and educational and career decision-making • Gendered and classed nature of A’s young adulthood and current life stage – ‘gender specific normal biography’ • Reflected in gender stereotypical occupations and caring responsibilities • Expanding ‘horizon for action’ related to current ‘household class’, employment, availability of LLL and LM opportunities, development of social capital • Life concept includes an orientation towards higher level study and career which is illustrative of elements of constraint and choice

18. For Discussion • Why are females more likely than males to be studying for additional qualifications? Why L3 hollow for females? • How important is it to identify the inter-relationships between gender, class and employment? • What are the implications for LLL policy?

19. Further Information • www.education.soton.ac.uk/nphe • Project team, details and Working Paper series • Email: a.fuller@soton.ac.uk