The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has published a new report looking at the underachievement of young men in higher education. Written by Nick Hillman (HEPI’s Director) and Nicholas Robinson, Boys to Men: The underachievement of young men in higher education – and how to start tackling it includes new data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Office for Fair Access (Offa) and has a Foreword by Mary Curnock Cook, the Chief Executive of UCAS. Nick Hillman, co-author of the report and the Director of HEPI, said: ‘Nearly everyone seems to have a vague sense that our education system is letting young men down, but there are few detailed studies of the problem and almost no clear policy recommendations on what to do about it. ‘Young men are much less likely to enter higher education, are more likely to drop out and are less likely to secure a top degree than women. Yet, aside from initial teacher training, only two higher education institutions currently have a specific target to recruit more male students. That is a serious problem that we need to tackle. ‘Of course women face substantial challenges too. Female graduates earn lower salaries than male graduates. Female academics face too many obstacles in being promoted. Lad culture can make life uncomfortable for female students. But policymaking is not a zero-sum game in which you have to choose between caring for one group or the other. Indeed, we can only tackle the socio-economic gap in higher education participation by focusing on the underachievement of young men, and particularly disadvantaged young white men. ‘We recommend more widening participation spending should be focused on boys, a new Take Our Sons to University Day, the involvement […]
HEPI New HEPI report reveals the underachievement of young men in higher education – and calls on the sector to do more to tackle the problem – HEPI
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