Study details barriers to third-level education

FUNDING difficulties, poor guidance at school and the lure of full-time work have raised barriers to thousands of young people from low-paid families accessing third-level education.

Around one-in-five Irish households come under the “non-manual” heading, the only socio-economic category for which third-level participation rates fell between 1998 and 2004, according to previous research.

An ESRI study published yesterday shows the drop in college take-up is specific to a sub-group of the non-manual category, dominated by those working in services such as shop assistants or care workers.

The ESRI investigation, funded by the Higher Education Authority, reveals that young people from this category have the lowest rates of application to third-level, and a number of them who did not go to college were alienated and disaffected from school at an early age.

“These young people from lower, non-manual backgrounds saw higher education as an extension of school, and for this reason it was viewed as something to be avoided,” wrote authors Selina McCoy, Emma Calvert, Emer Smyth and Merike Darmody.

Many who did not go on to college told the researchers that guidance at school was variously absent, only focused on certain student groups such as the honours class, and sometimes directed them away from higher education. Because their parents and, very often, their siblings did not have any third level experiences, these students also relied far more on the school supports to make their choices.

The final major barrier was financial issues, with a clear finding that the pull of the labour market – particularly for males – was an important factor in their non-participation in higher education.

The ESRI found that the financial commitment to study was considered too great for some in the non-manual category.

“Many felt that they would not be eligible for financial support, or even where they were eligible they felt it would not have been sufficient. It is also clear that financial supports and the cost of higher education were insufficiently understood among some of these young people,” the report said.

It also concluded that financial factors play an important role in the higher college drop-out rates of young people from lower non-manual backgrounds.