experiences of PGT study by applicants, students and employers, and provided some specific suggestions in how to address them. This chapter focuses on the overarching challenges that delegates attending the PEP National Dialogical Conference in July 2015 felt the HE sector faces in widening and sustaining the PGT market across all disciplines. It was felt that if the government and HE sector wish to develop and implement effective sustainable strategies to widen access to PGT study to enable greater participation across different demographic groups who have lower participation rates (e.g. lower social class students), then a range of activities need to occur and a number of approaches adopted in order to achieve this aim. These are discussed below.
Increased knowledge
Who participates?
Developing future policy requires accurate information and a comprehensive understanding of why individuals participate in PGT study, who participates, barriers to access, progression and completion, and where participation occurs including location and type of university. This knowledge is not currently available although some of these broad questions have started to be explored. Wakeling and Hampden-Thompson (2013) Transitions to Higher Degrees across the UK report where they examined in detail the movement of full-time UK and EU domiciled undergraduate students to postgraduate study using national data provided by HESA is an incredibly valuable piece of research. However, they were unable to analyse the same information for students entering postgraduate study after having a break or coming from overseas due to absence of this data.
A key aim of the PEP project was to obtain some of the missing knowledge through capturing an extensive amount of quantitative and qualitative information from applicants and students across the various transition PGT stages. The chapters in this report have given insight into the motivations, barriers, challenges, expectations and experiences of those pursing PGT study. However, the project consisted of 11 universities and STEM-related disciplines only. Although some of the findings are quite unambiguous, it would be wrong to make the assumption that the findings are applicable across the sector.
This study highlights that discussion and further exploration of what widening participation means at PGT level, generational status and social class need to be more comprehensively examined. It is unknown whether these characteristics, which are recognised as being influential at undergraduate level, are at postgraduate. However, the various chapters in this report
have highlighted some notable findings for these groups in terms of route into study, funding, expectations, perceptions, attitudes and engagement issues. For example, respondents from social classes 1 and 2 were more likely to be second generation students, coming straight from university, funded by parents/guardians, studying full-time, knowing what to expect and less likely to work during their studies. Respondents in social classes 3 and below were more likely to be first generation, coming from work or another form of entry route, studying part-time, less likely to know what to expect and more likely to work alongside their studies. Added to this, UK domiciled respondents all reported substantially higher levels of previous study debt compared to their EU and OS counterparts. Interestingly, the perception of debt was also higher for lower social classes, even though the debt levels were similar to those in the higher social classes. These different perceptions, funding methods and expectations related to finance are
anxious, which is not conducive for successful participation, progression or completion. Further research into these areas will help inform the development of sustainable and effective policy at institutional and national level when considering how to widen participation.
At present, there is no effective and comprehensive national PGT admissions process as at undergraduate level, which is acknowledged as being highly beneficial. If the sector signed up to a national postgraduate admission system then the critical information on applicants and students that is currently lacking could be comprehensively collected. The difficulty faced by the project in collecting applicant data was highlighted in Chapter 2 and these findings have formally been passed onto UCAS for consideration in their discussions about developing a more effective PGT national admissions process. A national admissions process could also potentially reduce the admissions procedure costs for a university. At PGT level, it is very hard for an institution to accurately predict enrolment numbers due to the lack of knowledge of where else the applicant has applied and their real ability to participate as opposed to their intention. This was very much highlighted in the Non-Enrolment Groups A-D survey results. Within the project’s lead university, the estimated conservative cost in time for processing the applications of STEM PGT non-enrollers by academic and administrative staff was around £55,000. This excludes overhead costs such as space and associated costs.
Impact of accurate data and knowledge
It is recognised that effective management in HE relies on accurate data and knowledge. If an institution is able to identify the changes in its student body quickly and accurately, it is able to adjust, adapt and link the support it provides in the academic and non-academic spheres. For example, a course, as a result of a more proactive university marketing strategy, may experience an increase in overseas participation in a particular year. Having immediate access to accurate data enables accommodation, language support services and the learning and teaching experience in and out of the classroom to be adjusted straightaway to meet the changes in the student body and support requirements.
The project through its various data collecting activities has highlighted the complexity of the PGT student’s life and their individual support requirements. Accurate data enables an institution to obtain a better understanding of their student body therefore enabling them to provide targeted and inclusive support. For example, if a university has a large number of PGT students on a course who live in excess of 25 miles away, the teaching timetable, where possible, could be adjusted to ensure that the majority of lessons are clustered into full days so the cost of travel for the student is reduced.
Postgraduate study is one of many activities the student has to balance, and their engagement in their studies and their student experience will be determined by their individual and often complex circumstances. In recent years, research suggests a student’s success is linked to their sense of belonging with an institution. One model, proposed by Liz Thomas (Thomas, 2012), suggests that belonging is as a result of being engaged in a range of activities across different academic and non-academic spheres. However, Kate Thomas’s new alternative model suggests that it is more influenced by factors such as a student’s individual motivation, discipline, profession, cohort and private sense (Thomas, 2015). This model more accurately reflects how students in this study felt about their PGT-level study. This is an important finding as it will impact on institutional approaches when supporting students and helping them engage and belong.
Expectations of PGT study by students and employers
Chapter 8 highlighted the disconnect between students’ expectations of the benefits that a PGT qualification would provide compared to employers. Whilst students believed that a PGT qualification will improve their chances of getting a graduate job, provide more career choices, and that it is more valued by employers than an undergraduate degree (also Stuart et al., 2008; Wells, 2011; Soilemetzidis et al., 2014), this study and other recent research suggests that a PGT qualification is not essential for many employers and does not necessarily provide the relevant skills needed for the workplace (Connor et al., 2010; Marginson et al., 2013; Mellors- Bourne et al., 2014). There needs to be an understanding of what generates these expectations of applicant and students and what the accuracy of those expectations are in reality. There is substantial evidence highlighting the benefits of possessing an undergraduate degree on salary and other benefits over a lifetime, but insignificant evidence, as a result of the recent high number of postgraduate taught entrants into the job market, to suggest that this is also the case. Longitudinal studies would be helpful to provide accurate insight into this area.
The findings also suggest that it is important to determine the role of various stakeholders in the credential inflation of qualifications. Has it been government and employer driven with the HE sector responding or has it been the HE sector recognising market opportunities and applying known undergraduate outcomes to an unknown PGT market? A major challenge in handling credential inflation when widening and sustaining the sector in the future will be managing student and employer expectations through marketing processes, which is backed up by evidence. The HEA have taken the project’s Entry to Study survey into its portfolio, which, if rolled out across the sector, will substantially assist in obtaining a more accurate picture of PGT student expectations across the sector and different disciplines.
Approaches to widening and sustaining the PGT sector
Self-correcting
One approach in widening and sustaining the sector, as has commonly occurred at undergraduate level, is to do nothing, as the market will naturally correct itself. The findings from the project partly support this tactic. Some respondents in the focus groups stated that they had delayed entry into PGT level study until the economic climate and their personal finance situation improved.
Unstable employment environment
I was worried that if I left my full-time job, I would struggle get a job after my studies because the industry is really struggling. This is why I chose the part-time route. But it is still hard…….
No financial access to fund study
I delayed my postgraduate studies so I could save up enough money to do it. You know…I am an adult and I really didn’t want to ask my parents for help…
Combination
I was made redundant and didn’t have enough money to pay for my studies and there was no financial help available, so I waited until I got a job.
However, it is important to note that the findings above are contrary to what is perceived to happen at undergraduate level, where it is argued that when there is a downturn in the economy, demand for higher education generally goes up as individuals who lose their jobs, or fear low prospects for employment in declining economies, see a university or college degree as a means to better employment prospects (Douglass, 2010:4). It is essential to undertake further analysis into this area and take this difference into account when developing future
The UK has been in recession since 2009 and the participation at PGT level across all disciplines has declined as Table 123 illustrates. However, when comparing available enrolment data of the UK’s market competitors, Australia, Canada and the USA, their enrolments have continued to rise even with similar economic difficulties suggesting that other factors than economic could be impacting on UK participation.
Table 123. Comparative international enrolment figures 2003-2013
Country 2003/4 2009/10 2010/11 2012/13 Percentage change between 2010-13 Australia 257,769 307,973 320,455 347,069 +8.3 Canada 142,800 185,526 192,924 203,727 +5.6 UK 523,825 578,705 588,720 536,440 -8.8 USA 2,431,117 2,862,391 2,937,454 2,947,000 (projected) +0.3
Source: Australia (DET, 2014a,b,c,d): Canada (STATCan, 2011,2014a,b,c): UK (HESA,2015c,d,e, f):USA(NCES, 2013a,b,c).
When examining the UK’s most up-to-date PG enrolment data (no available competitors data), although UK enrolments in 2012/13 dropped below the 2008/9 participation figure (536,810), there was an increase in 2013/14 (539,440).
Some institutions have managed to sustain their PG enrolments in the current economic climate so could be inclined to adopt the self-correcting approach. However, all countries within the UK have experienced difficulties and as Figure 30 illustrates, no English region has been immune from the decrease in participation. Of the 130 HE institutions in England, 74 have experienced a decrease in enrolments. When the data is presented like this,
regional variations become more pronounced. The North West and South West regions have experienced the largest reduction in enrolments, the East Midlands the largest increase in overseas enrolments and the West Midlands is the most stable with only a 0.7% reduction. Further research into these regional variations are warranted in order to understand if there are any specific regional issues that need to be taken into account when planning future policy.
Figure 30. PG enrolment decrease by English region and domiciled status between 2010/11 and 2013/14 NORTH EAST ENGLAND YORKSHIRE EAST MIDLANDS WEST MIDLANDS SOUTH WEST ENGLAND SOUTH EAST ENGLAND EASTERN ENGLAND NORTH WEST ENGLAND
Red = largest decrease North East
5 universities 3 gone down = 60%
Actual enrolment change = -6.6% UK = -15.2% EU = +4.1% OS = +5.7% North West 14 universities 9 gone down = 64.3%
Actual enrolment change = -22.4%
UK = -27.5% EU = -18.5% OS = -0.7% Yorkshire 11 universities 8 gone down = 72.7%
Actual enrolment change = -9.5% UK = -8.1% EU = -24.3% OS = -9.3% East Midlands 9 universities 6 gone down = 66.6%
Actual enrolment change = -7.1% UK = -7.8% EU = -6.1% OS = +46.0% West Midlands 12 universities 5 gone down = 41.6%
Actual enrolment change = -0.7% UK = -3.0% EU = -0.3% OS = +3.6% South West 12 universities 11 gone down = 91.6%
Actual enrolment change = -21.3%
UK = -28.0% EU = -21.7% OS = +2.0% East 10 Universities 5 gone down = 50%
Actual enrolment change = -6.8% UK = -2.5% EU = -17.0% OS = -9.8% London 39 universities 18 gone down = 46.2%
Actual enrolment change = -7.7% UK = -8.7% EU = -3.9% OS = -7.2% South East 18 universities 9 gone down = 50%
Actual enrolment decrease = -4.3% UK = -7.8%
EU = -1.4% OS = +5.8%
Wait for the government PGT loan scheme
An argument to explain the PGT decline in enrolments in the UK is that when the graduate job market is weak, the barriers that have reduced at undergraduate level in enabling people to study (e.g. funding schemes) have been passed up to postgraduate level. In 2009, John Denham, the former Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, commented:
…as taught masters increasingly become an additional pre-employment qualification, there is concern that the gap we are closing as we widen participation for first degrees may open again if the best employment is only open to those who can fund their MSc or MA. (cited in Wakeling, 2009:22)
The finance findings in Chapter 6 partly support this statement. In the 2014 autumn statement, the government announced its intention to introduce a new loan system for postgraduate taught masters students. The consultation period, which started in March 2015, was extended to cover postgraduate research. The announcement confirming the implementation of a PGT loan scheme for individuals up to the age of 60 years of age was announced in the autumn statement on 25 November 2015, but no details have yet been confirmed. The lateness of the announcement will impact on institutions recruitment and marketing strategies for 2016/17 and could lead to limited uptake by applicants.
It is unclear as yet whether the Postgraduate Support Scheme Phase 2 (see Chapter 3) that was designed to be a bridging mechanism to a new loan scheme and to help sustain enrolments levels has been successful in stemming the decline. Realistically, information on its impact on disciplines and demographic groups will not be known until after universities submit their 2015/16 HESA returns. The financial anxieties caused by fee levels and living costs highlighted by the respondents in 2015 study could be reduced with the assistance of a loan.
However, the challenge for the sector is whether a government-backed loan scheme will be sufficient and desirable enough to encourage participation. As Chapter 8 highlights, the majority of respondents in the Finance survey did not hold the view that a government- backed loan scheme paid back at a rate of 9% and concurrently with any undergraduate loan was viable. Their preference was a mixed funding option that comprised a number of methods such as a small loan, discount and use of savings. It is not known what students who completed their undergraduate studies under the current £9K a year funding regime feel about accruing further debt in order to undertake PGT-level study and what they feel the overarching benefits of further study will provide them with. This is critical research that needs to be undertaken.
Whilst many institutions in the sector have waited for the government funding announcement, some institutions have taken the step of exploring and engaging in alternative student funding methods. This includes offering discounts to non-alumni (see Project Briefing Paper 11 online) and engaging in activities with funding organisations such as Student Funder, Future Finance and Prodigy who offer loans to individuals who are unable to access career development loans or other forms of funding (e.g. parental assistance). At present, there is insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion on the uptake and benefits of these alternative funding models.
Adapt and create new markets
Due to the expectations of students, declining enrolments and the response to PGT qualifications by employers, questions such as are the sectors current PGT STEM offerings sustainable? Are courses in need of adaption and can new markets successfully be created? And if so, how could this be achieved? Any changes undertaken will need to create easier access to PGT study and flexible pathways between qualifications with targeted support throughout the different PGT transition stages in order to foster success at this level of study. It is expected that employability outcomes, as is already the case at undergraduate level, are
likely to become increasingly important and influential at PGT level especially if fee levels are linked to employability outcomes (see ‘Extend differential fee concept’ section below). Adaption
Dual routes
Some courses could be adapted to become more flexible through offering dual routes. For example, at Plymouth University, a student registered on a masters degree can transfer within a specific timeframe onto a Masters of Research if they find it is a better match for their skill base and desired outcome. Flexibility to enable students to transfer between different types of PGT courses will provide pathway options for students who feel they made incorrect study choices and potentially support completion rates.
Accrediting modules not a course
If modules were accredited instead of the course, it would provide flexibility to run them as short courses. This approach could encourage employers for paying for and releasing employees to undertake modules that are relevant to their business skill needs and it would provide a recognised standalone qualification for the individual that they can put towards their continuing professional development. This approach allows individuals to engage in further study that fits in with work and study demands. It will take time and commitment by institutions and professional bodies, but this approach, which is already in existence in the nursing discipline, could be a successful way forward in creating sustainability.
Different study delivery
In order to expand (with limited cost) or to maintain (due to low take up) part-time courses, HEIs often run them alongside full-time delivery during the day. Although this enables the course to continue to be operational, the delivery mode can cause attendance issues and therefore are not popular. It would be judicious to investigate the decline of part-time enrolments alongside changes in delivery patterns to ascertain whether this is a key factor in the decline of part-time enrolments. At PGT level, the use of technology could be utilised more efficiently in the delivery of