Article 2010

As UK policy strives to make access to higher education easier for all, is discrimination in employment practice still apparent?

Journal of Vocational Education and Training
Journal · Vol. 62 · Issue 3 · pp. 313-326
Abstract

Reporting on research into two major employers recruiting to the financial services industry, this article draws on data collected from interns, recruitment professionals and graduate employees in their first year of employment. It poses a number of strategy- and outcome-related questions in an attempt to determine whether recruitment advisers are acknowledging a new breed of undergraduate with various skills and diverse histories. The research, involving two large employers, 172 trainees and their personnel managers, set out to explore the impact of life experiences on employment opportunities in the financial services industry. The evidence reveals that despite the fact that graduates entering the labour market have changed, becoming more diverse in terms of age, gender, previous education experience, interest and ambition, employers in the industry still recruit from the elite specifically in terms of their fast track to leadership programmes, known as internships. © 2010 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Higher education Gender Class access to higher education policy issues learning in the professions Professional change

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
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7 Reproduction in Education Society and Culture, (1977)
8 Misuse of Talent, (2005)
9 Journal of Open and Distance Learning, (2003)
10 Higher Ambitions the Future of Universities in A Knowledge Economy, (2009)
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