Universities pay lip service to equality,yet the system functions as a enormous social filter. Real fairness will assume a radical rethinkWe are repeatedly told that higher education can advance social mobility. Universities are rewarded with extra funding for recruiting students from areas with low participation rates, and there are various schemes to support bright young people from deprived backgrounds accept to the “top” universities, or the super-selectives.
But these initiatives operate within a sector that drives inequality through selection. Prior attainment is correlated with social class,so differentiated academic entry requirements immediately filter young people into a class hierarchy of institutions. This is compounded by companies that offer highly paid jobs recruiting only from the top of this hierarchy. Higher education should be approximately realising potential with considerable teaching, not unfair selection into privileged networks. We often say we value diversity but continue with a system that judges institutions according to their social class make-up. It is time for a radical rethink.
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Source: theguardian.com