Higher Education Participation of Northern Irish Students

@ Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1994, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1 JF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA Higher Education Quarwly 0951-5224 Volume 48 No. 3, July 1994

Higher Education Participation of Northern Irish Students' Robert Cormack, Queen's University, Robert Osborne, University of Ulster and Anthony Gallagher, Queen's University with Norrie Fisher and Maureen Poland

Abstract

Higher education in Britain displays a diversity of patterns of participation and provision. The establishment of funding councils for England, Scotland, Wales; together with the advisory body the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council ( N I H E C ) , for Northern Ireland, will further increase this diversity. As these councils go about their work, a valuable exercise might be conducted by recording the patterns of participation in the early 1990s. Each council confronts a dgfment tradition, with different levels of participation, and with somewhat different issues on their policy agenda. The NIHEC oversees a small two university system, with a high Northern Irish age participation index, and where affirmative action and equal opportunity measures have a particular prominence.

Introduction

Higher education in the United Kingdom displays diverse patterns of provision and participation (Scott, 1994). As the now separate funding councils (and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI)) respond to the lurches in government higher education policies this diversity is likely to increase. As these councils set about their work it is worth taking stock of patterns and trends.

Northern Ireland offers an interesting case study for a number of reasons. We have one of the best longitudinal data sets on student participation of any part of the United Kingdom higher education system. The establishment of the New University of Ulster in 1968 created a

' Versions of this paper were presented at the 15th Annual EAIR Conference in Turku, Finland in August 1993; and to the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council (NIHEC), November 1993.

208 Higher Education Quarterly

second Northern Irish university alongside the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). The merger of the New University of Ulster (NUU) and Ulster Polytechnic (UP) in 1984 created the University of Ulster (UU), the first trans-binary institution in the United Kingdom. The 1993/94 Age Participation Index2 estimate for Great Britain is 30.9 and for Northern Ireland stands at 38.5 (DENI, 1993). The participation of students from manual backgrounds is considerably higher than in England and Wales. Finally, affirmative action is now f d y on the agenda of both Northern Irish institutions. The programme to create “fair employment” in Northern Ireland is subject to the strongest affirmative action legislation in Europe, i.e. the 1989 Fair Employment Act (Northern Ireland) (see Osborne and Cormack, 1991). The focus in higher education is primarily on the profile of staff in the two universities, both academic and non- academic, from the two communities. However, student participation is increasingly a policy issue of some moment (Osborne and Cormack, 1990).

This article sets out the patterns and trends in the participation of Northern Irish students in higher education, primarily based on surveys conducted by the authors and others over the last fifteen years. The implications of current policies, both local and national, are then explored.

The surveys

Most of the data presented in this article come from surveys conducted in 1980, 1986 and 1991. The first surveys (the 1973 and 1979 entrance cohorts) were funded by the Social Science Research Council and the latter two (the 1985 and 1991 entrance cohorts) by the Economic and Social Research Council. These surveys involved postal questionnaires being sent to all full-time students entering a degree course in a higher education institution in 1973, 1979, 1985 and 19913. In all years, students entering on B.Ed. courses were excluded4. The five Education and Library Boards supplied addresses of students for whom they were liable for fees. This strategy was adopted for the fust surveys since this was the most feasible way to gain a complete list of entrants to both universities and polytechnics. The same methodology was continued in the later surveys.

Age participation index (API) is calculated by expressing all young entrants to higher education in the UK (aged under 21) as a percentage of the 18 year old population.

Entrants to advanced further education non-degree courses were excluded from the earlier surveys but were included in the 1991 survey. This group is being reported on separately.

B.Ed. students were excluded in the early surveys since, unlike other undergraduates, they were not permitted to carry their awards to British institutions and hence were not geographically mobile. This practice was continued in the later surveys. A separate survey was conducted of B.Ed. entrants but these data are not included in this article.

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Participation of Northern Irish Students 209

Table Z Higher Education Entrants’ Surveys

~

Entry Year Year of Survey Total N Response Rate YO

1973 1980 2477 51.4 1979 1980 3598 73.9 1985 1985 4640 82.3 1991 1992 6918 78.0

The response rates are given in Table I. The 1973 survey obtained a lower response rate since this survey was conducted in 1980 using the last known address of students held by the grant-awarding Education and Library Board.

Broad trends in participation

In 1968 there were 2,088 new Northern Irish entrants to higher education institutions: 67.2 per cent entered the two Northern Irish universities, 15.6 per cent went to British universities, and 17.2 per cent went to universities in the Republic of Ireland (see Figure 1). By 1990 the number of new entrants had risen to 6,627. Of these new entrants in 1990,57.3 per cent remained in Northern Ireland, 19.2 per cent entered British polytechnics, 21.5 per cent entered British universities, and 2 per cent entered institutions in the Republic of Ireland. While universities in Britain and Northern Ireland admitted rising numbers of Northern Irish entrants, a substantial part of the growth in numbers came to be accommodated in British polytechnics.

Participation in Higher Education: gender, religion, social class and age

Table I1 reveals the substantial gains made by women in the last twenty years. From a position where only two out of five entrants were female in 1973, women were in the majority by 1991 (in our survey data). The substantial reduction in teacher training places in the 1970s clearly had a significant effect in diverting women into other subject areas. However, for a number of years females have outperformed males in secondary level examinations (GCSEs and A levels); this superior achievement at secondary level is now reflected in participation in higher education (Osborne er al., 1991). Higher education remains a substantial middle class “good”. Neverthless, students from manual backgrounds advanced from a quarter of entrants in 1973 to one-third by 1991. Table I11 suggests

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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 2 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987

- Northern Ireland Universities

-------. Republic of Ireland

- British Universities

- - - British Polytechnics

Note: Derived from data supplied by the DEN1 and based on returns from ELBs. UP figures added to NI universities

Higher Education Destinations of Northern Irish Students

that, within this group, those from skilled manual backgrounds pre- dominate over those from semi and unskilled backgrounds. Students from social class V backgrounds are particularly poorly represented. The representation of Catholics has continued to rise from slightly less than a third in 1973 to slightly less than a half by 1991. The 1991 Population Census figures suggest that Catholics made up 48 per cent of the population aged between 15 and 24 (DHSS/Registrar General, 1993,3-5; Cormack et al., 1993). Hence, Catholic higher education participation is

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Table 11 Higher Education Entrants: Gender, Class and Religion (column "0)

1973 1979 1985 1991

Gender Males Females

Social Class Non Manual Manual

Protestants Catholics Other

Mature Students Total N

Religion

58.9 41.1

75.4 24.6

67.9 32.1 n/a nta 1273

54.4 45.6

68.4 31.6

60.2 39.8 nla nia

2658

50.9 49.1

69.4 30.6

55.7 44.3 nla n/a

3826

47.2 52.8

65.3 34.7

48.7 48.4

3.0 9.4

5353

Source: Survey Data Note: Slight changes were made to the schemes used to classify Social Class over the survey years; in the 1991 survey religion was determined by a direct question rather than using post- primary school attended, as in previous years.

Table It1 Social Class and Higher Education Entry; 1991 Cohort (column YO)

Social Class I Social Class I1 Social Class IIINM Social Class IIIM Social Class IV Social Class V

1991 Census 1991 Entrants

4.1 20.4 9.7

27.9 13.0 24.9

13.2 44.9 7.3

25.4 7.1 2.3

Source: Survey data and NI Population Census 1991 Note: 1991 population census, based on economically active males; those in the armed services and inadequately described occupations omitted; those recorded as 'no paid job in past 10 years' and as 'on a government training scheme' included in social class V.

on a par with their representation in the approximate age specific cohort. Mature students, defined as those 21 and over, made up one-in-ten of the entrance cohort in 1991.

Table IV suggests there are significant differences in the representation of students from manual backgrounds in the two communities. The overall class structure of the two communities is quite different, with the Protestant community having a substantially larger middle class (Osborne

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Table N Higher Education Entrants: Class by Religion; 1991 Cohort (column %)

Non Manual Manual N

Protestant catholic Other

73.4 56.8 73.0 26.6 43.2 27.0 2251 2282 137

Source: Survey Data

Table V Higher Education Entrants: Mature Students by Gender,

Class and Religion; 1991 Cohort (YO)

Gender

Social Class

Religion

N

Male Female Non Manual Manual Protestant Catholic Other

50.1 49.9 48.8 51.2 40.8 53.7

5.5 537

Source: Survey Data

and Cormack, 1991; Cormack and Osborne, 1994) although there is clear evidence that the gap is narrowing (Gallagher et al., in press). What this table reveals is the highly significant social mobility channel that higher education has provided for Catholic students from manual and unemployed backgrounds in circumstances where there have been few other opportunities. These two tables (I1 and IV) suggest significant advances in the representation of women and Catholics in higher education over the years; but with slow progress in the representation of students from working class backgrounds, most notably Protestants from such backgrounds. Catholics were overrepresented among mature entrants; while the representation of students from manual backgrounds is significantly higher than their representation in the overall cohort (Table V).

Entry level qualifications and participation

In Table VI scores have been assigned for grades attained in A and AS level examinations. Perhaps remarkably, A level performance has remained

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stable over the period of these surveys despite the rapid expansion in higher education. The performance of new entrants in 1979 was notably lower than in the other survey years perhaps reflecting the intake of modestly qualified entrants who previously would have entered teacher training courses and institutions. However, the 1985 entrance cohort were more like the 1973 entrants in their A level profile, and by 1991 there appears to have been a significant rise in those achieving 18 points or more5. These figures are based on those entering higher education with A level and AS level

Table VZ Higher Education Entrants by A/AS Level Scores (row YO)

1-9 10-17 18-29 30+ 1973 8.6 33.1 45.9 12.4 1979 14.5 35.2 39.6 10.7 1985 8.4 36.8 43.4 11.3 1991 8.6 30.1 49.6 11.7

Scoring for A Levels (A = 10) (B = 8) (C = 6) (D = 4) (E = 2) Scoring for AS Levels (A = 5 ) (B = 4) (C = 3) (D = 2) (E = 1) Source: Survey Data

Table VZI Higher Education Entrants Mean NAS Level Scores by Religion

by Gender and Class

Protestant Male Female Non Manual Manual

Catholic Male Female Non Manual Manual

Male Female Non Manual Manual

Other

1973 1979 1985 1991

19.2 20.9 20.4 17.9

18.9 19.3 19.1 19.1

d a d a nla nla

19.2 18.2 19.4 17.0

16.6 16.6 17.8 15.1

nla nla nla nla

19.9 19.7 20.4 18.5

18.1 17.8 18.8 17.0

nla nla d a nla

20.2 19.6 20.7 18.1

19.4 19.3 20.4 18.2

20.9 19.8 20.1 20.2

Source: Survey Data

Scrutiny of the qualifications of school leavers suggest there has been a steady rise in the proportion leaving with A levels, and with 3 or more A levels (Cormack and Obsorne, in press).

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qualifications. In 1973,0.2 per cent entered with qualifications other than A levels and this rose through the years to 5.0 per cent in 1979,5.7 per cent in 1985 and to 9.4 per cent in 1991.

As one might expect, mature entrants are gaining higher education places with significantly lower NAS level attainment compared to traditional entrants. There are only small differences in the NAS level attainment of male/female, ProtestanKatholic, and Non-ManuaUManual mature entrants; with male, Protestant, and non-manual entrants gaining slightly higher entrance grades.

However, Table VII suggests that the lower level of attainment of traditional entrants is quite small overall for all groups, the biggest gap being between students from non-manual and manual backgrounds in both communities. In fact, levels of attainment have risen slightly between 1985 and 1991. The Government reversed, or at least paused, in pursuing the policy-led expansion of recent years; t h i s may have had some effect on these figures.

Subject of study

For many years it has been recognized that there is a subject bias in the choices of courses followed by students from the two communities. In secondary education, Catholic students are more likely to take GCSEs and A level in arts and languages, while Protestant students are found overrepresented in the science and technological subjects (Osborne et al., 1991). This pattern follows through into higher education subject choices (Osborne et al., 1988). Table VIII reveals a continuation of this pattern but with some interesting developments. On science courses Catholics are now almost on a par with Protestants. However, this position of equity appears to have resulted from a substantial decline in the proportion of Protestant students taking up science courses. This reflects the tendency for the recent expansion to have been in arts, humanities and social sciences, rather than in science and technology, despite government efforts to sustain and expand places in these areas ahead of demand. Catholics continue to be underrepresented in Engineering and Technology courses. On the other hand, Catholics are substantially overrepresented in Social, Administrative and Business Studies. Further analysis reveals this over-representation to be more dependent on “social” rather than “business” courses.

Table IX reveals the continuing substantial underrepresentation of women in Science and particularly in Engineering and Technology and

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Table VIIZ Higher Education Courses Studied by Religion (row %)

Health Engineering Science Social, Languages Other N and Administrative and Arts

Technology and Business Studies

Protestant 1973 11.8 10.1 20.4 27.0 15.6 15.1 821 1979 11.6 11.0 19.6 27.6 13.6 16.6 1439 1985 11.5 13.1 23.2 29.6 15.3 7.3 2051

1991 12.7 13.4 16.0 32.1 16.7 9.1 2489

1973 8.1 7.2 18.8 30.2 20.7 15.0 381 1979 9.1 8.0 16.0 36.2 11.2 19.4 936 1985 9.7 12.3 19.9 38.1 13.5 6.4 1627 1991 10.5 12.0 15.8 38.1 16.9 6.8 2455

1991 9.9 12.6 13.2 29.1 24.5 10.6 151

Catholic

Other

____ Source: Survey Data

Table IX Higher Education Courses Studied by Gender; 1991 Cohort (row O h )



Male 8.2 22.0 20.1 29.0 13.9 6.9 2402 Female 14.4 4.5 12.1 40.1 19.8 9.1 2730

Source: Survey Data

their overrepresentation in Social, Administrative and Business Studies, and in Languages and Arts courses. Table X reveals this pattern of subject bias to be significantly a gender issue rather than one between the communities. The subject profile for Protestant and Catholic women is remarkably similar. Catholic men, compared to Protestant men, are underrepresented in Engineering and Technology and overrepresented in Social, Administrative and Business Studies. Male mature students, from both communities, are well represented in Engineering and Technology, and Science courses compared to traditional entrants. However, female mature students are even more poorly represented on these courses compared to female traditional entrants.

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Table X Higher Education Courses Studied by Gender by Religion; 1991 Cohort

(row YO)



Male Protestant 9.1 24.3 20.2 26.4 13.5 6.5 1161 Catholic 7.5 20.1 20.2 31.2 13.7 7.2 1132 Other 5.8 17.4 17.4 31.4 19.8 8.1 86

Protestant 15.8 3.8 12.4 37.0 19.5 11.4 1328 Catholic 13.0 5.0 11.9 44.0 19.6 6.5 1323 Other 15.4 6.2 7.7 26.2 30.8 13.8 65

Female

Source: Survey Data

Destinations

The study destinations of Northern Irish undergraduates also require analysis by religion, gender, class and age. These patterns of geographical mobility are crucial in terms of a number of processes, debates and disputes going on in Northern Ireland. Recently, there has been an attempt to focus on Protestant “alienation”. Previously thought of as ascendant, dominant and materially advantaged, the Protestant community is increasingly portrayed as defensive and fearing the future. A significant indicator of this pattern is taken to be the out-migration of Protestant students to study in British institutions. Secondly, there has been a concern that high flyers leave Northern Ireland to study and do not return on graduation. This is often held up as an example of the “brain drain”. Finally, of relevance here is the disproportionate composition of the graduate labour market in Northern Ireland. As we noted above, 43 per cent of the total population are Catholic but Catholics represent 48 per cent of those aged 15 to 25. The proportion of Catholics in the graduate labour market in Northern Ireland is likely to be higher still given the differential pattern of staying in and leaving Northern Ireland to study and subsequent graduate migration patterns.

In 1991 Protestants were much more likely than Catholics to leave Northern Ireland to study in British institutions (43.9 per cent compared to 26.7 per cent). Males were somewhat more likely to leave than females; and notably students from non-manual backgrounds were much more

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Table XI Destination of Entrants by Class, Gender and Religion (row %)

1973 Non Manual Manual Male Female Protestant Catholic

Non Manual Manual Male Female Protestant Catholic

Non Manual Manual Male Female Protestant Catholic

Non Manual Manual Male Female Protestant Catholic Other

1979

1985

1991

Northern Ireland

57.9 69.7 63.9 57.1 59.3 64.9

63.1 71.4 65.9 65.1 59.8 75.1

61.3 73.9 66.8 64.0 56.7 76.8

58.7 69.7 60.6 63.4 55.2 70; 1 47.2

Britain

35.2 25.3 31.6 33.5 37.7 21.1

31.9 24.7 30.2 29.1 36.9 17.6

37.4 24.5 31.9 34.6 41.9 21.9

39.1 28.2 37.4 34.5 43.9 26.7 51.6

Republic of Ireland N

6.9 910 5.1 297 4.6 747 9.4 520 3.1 852

13.9 402

5.0 1668 3.9 768 4.0 1386 5.8 1161 3.2 1509 7.2 98 1

1.3 2231 1.5 990 1.3 1908 1.4 1835 1.4 2036 1.3 1588

2.2 3052 2.1 1612 2.0 2508 2.2 2800 0.9 2565 3.2 2544 1.3 159

Source: Survey Data

llkely to leave than students from manual backgrounds. Leavers tended, therefore, to be more likely to be Protestant, middle class and slightly more likely to be male. Table XI suggests that this is a longstanding pattern.

Table XI1 provides more detail on the study destinations of the 1991 cohort of entrants. A little more than a third of students from a middle class background study in Queen’s, a little less than a quarter study in UU, and a further quarter leave to study in British universities. A third of students from manual backgrounds are to be found in Queen’s, another third in UU, and a little over a fifth study in British universities. Notably,

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Table XII Destination by Class, Gender and Religion; 1991 Cohort (row %)

Queen’s University British British British Republic N

Belfast Ireland University of Ulster Universities Polytechnics Colleges of

Social Class NonManual 35.4 23.4 23.7 13.6 1.8 2.2 3052 Manual 34.3 35.4 12.1 13.9 2.2 2.1 1612

Male 37.8 22.8 21.5 14.0 1.9 2.0 2508 Female 31.8 31.5 17.9 14.3 2.3 2.2 2800

Protestant 32.3 22.9 27.4 14.3 2.1 0.9 2565 catholic 37.9 32.2 10.9 13.8 2.0 3.2 2544 Other 21.4 25.8 31.4 17.6 2.5 1.3 159

Gender

Religion

Source: Survey Data

the proportion of students from manual backgrounds in British polytechnics is much the same as for students from non-manual backgrounds. However, students from non-manual backgrounds are much more likely to be found in British universities. Males who stay in Northern Ireland are more likely to be found in Queen’s than UU, while for females the proportion in the two institutions is about the same. A fifth of males study in British universities. More than a quarter of Protestants leave to study in British universities, while less than a quarter study in UU. More than a third of Catholics study in Queen’s while slightly less than a third study in UU. Only one in ten Catholics leave to study in British universities. For all categories British polytechnics and colleges take in very similar proportions.

In 1991, for the first time, the mean A/AS level scores of entrants were slightly higher for those remaining in Northern Ireland compared to those leaving (see Table XIII). The Northern Irish upper middle class tended to leave Northern Ireland to study and many of the high flyers were in this group. Our figures from 1973 revealed a similar pattern of high attainers leaving Northern Ireland to study. But the overall mean score of lavers was reduced by 1991 by the long tail of modest A level attainers leaving Northern Ireland to study in British polytechnics and colleges.

Table XIV shows that the mean NAS score of entrants to Queen’s was slightly lower than that for Northern Irish entrants to British universities. However, the mean score for entrants to the University of Ulster was higher than that for entrants to British polytechnics. The increase in entry

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Table XIII Destination by Mean AIAS level Scores

Mean MAS Level Scores 1973 1979 1985 1991

Northern Ireland 18.0 16.9 18.0 19.9 Britain/R of I 22.2 20.4 20.5 19.3

Source: Survey Data

Table XIV Mean MAS Level Scores by Destination; 1991 Cohort

Queen’s University British British British Republic


Mean MAS Level Scores 21.9 16.9 23.9 12.2 11.0 26.1

N 1763 1218 988 617 94 103

Source: Survey Data

grades to UU has been a deliberate policy (UU, 1992). In addition, UU has taken a significant number of entrants from the Republic of Ireland. These students, who enter with high second-level qualifications and whose fees are paid by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland, under European Union regulations, have enabled UU to fill relatively unpopular courses and push up entry grades. Criticism, from some quarters, has alleged that such a policy is leading to local students being “displaced”. A small group of Northern Irish students enter institutions in the Republic of Ireland and this group have the highest mean scores. Many of these students are studying medicine or veterinary science, the latter being a course not available in Northern Ireland.

Clearly, by 1991 the expansion of higher education was drawing in increasing numbers of modest A level attainers many of whom were unable to obtain places to study in the two Northern Irish universities. We know from a previous study of ours that not all leavers are willing leavers (Cormack ef al., 1989a). There are considerable numbers who, for a variety of family, social and educational reasons, wish to remain in Northern Ireland to study. These students, or at least those with modest A level attainment, no longer have a choice. A higher education is only to be

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had outside Northern Ireland. It should be noted here that, unlike England and Wales, the recent rise in the Northern Irish API has not been fuelled by higher education provision in Colleges of Further Education. While plans are afoot to mount parts of degree courses in designated Colleges franchised by QUB and UU, only very limited developments have so far been made in this direction.

The pattern of staying and leaving varies by subjects (Table XV) reflecting, in part, subject provision in the two Northern Irish institutions6. Slightly more than half the new entrants in 1991 to medicine and dentistry

Table XV Subject by Destination; 1991 Cohort (row %)

Medicinel Dentistry

Allied to Medicine

Biological Sciences

Agriculture Physical

Sciences Maths Sciences Engineering

and Technology

Architecture Social Studies Business/

A d m i Communication Languages Humanities Arts Other

Column %

Queen’s University British British British Republic N


53.5 d a 41.1

17.1 43.1 19.9

50.9 17.9 23.1 39.8 19.4 22.6

46.3 13.2 22.1 46.3 26.4 15.3

45.2 18.0 26.7 20.2 25.0 21.6 43.6 25.0 15.9

11.5 44.5 13.1 10.7 50.0 5.4 45.2 24.6 17.9 53.8 17.4 18.2 11.0 49.8 7.3 31.4 15.5 34.5

35.3 26.6 20.0

d a d a 5.4 241

18.5 1.2 0.3 346

6.4 0.6 1.2 173 6.5 3.2 8.6 93

14.2 2.6 1.6 190 9.9 1.1 0.9 352

8.7 1.1 0.2 438 31.3 1.9 n/a 208 10.7 2.1 2.8 1070

28.0 2.0 0.8 710 23.2 7.1 3.6 56 5.3 1.5 5.6 341 3.2 2.8 4.5 247

24.7 6.8 0.5 219 15.0 2.2 1.4 414

14.0 2.0 2.1

Source: Survey Data

Provision of subjects at the two institutions has been influenced by the implementation of the Butler Report (1987). The main effects have been to centralize physics and chemistry courses in Queen’s and for UU to provide the bulk of business studies and related courses.

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Participation of Northern Irish Students 22 1

entered QUB. QUB has relatively high proportions of entrants to science and technology courses, while the subject profile for UU displays the prominence of subjects allied to medicine, business and administration, communication, and creative arts.

Origins of students attending Queen’s University, Belfast and the University of Ulster

According to figures supplied by the DENI, 133 Northern Irish new entrants studied in institutions in the Republic of Ireland in 1990. Small as these numbers are they have been rising steadily from a low base of 62 in 1987. However, the focus of attention has been primarily on the flow of students from the Republic of Ireland to United Kingdom institutions, and particularly to those in Northern Ireland. Table XVI gives the origins of students attending QUB and UU in recent years.

At the time of the merger of NUU and UP to form UU in 1984, both institutions were admitting entrants with low qualifications (Chilver,

Table XVI Origins of Full-time Students Entering QUB and UU (row %)

Northern Ireland Britain Republic of Ireland Elsewhere N

Queen’s University, Belfast 1985186 94.4 1986187 91.2 1987188 89.3 1988189 87.8 1989190 87.8 199019 1 85.9 199 1/92 86.4 1992193 87.9

University of Ulster 1985186 74.9 1986187 77.2 1987188 72.3 1988189 71.8 1989190 76.3 199019 1 72.3 1991192 74.3 1992193 74.6 - Data supplied by the institutions

1.5 2.1 2.1 2.6 1.5 4.5 2.5 4.1 2.7 4.5 3.3 6.4 3.9 5.6 2.8 6.4

17.3 10.4 8.5 8.5 7.2 7.1 4.9 3.8

5.3 7.4

13.9 15.3 15.1 12.7 13.5 14.4

2.0 1834 4.2 1879 5.4 1931 5.6 1983 5.0 2221 6.4 2525 4.2 2645 2.9 2700

2.5 1697 5.1 1949 5.3 2108 4.5 2153 1.3 2182 7.9 2479 7.3 2713 7.2 3105

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1982). After the merger, UU set out on a deliberate policy to increase the qualifications of entrants to its degree programmes. As overall participation levels began to increase the policy of gradually increasing entry qualifications was successful. In t h i s process the increase in the demand for places from very well qualified applicants from the Irish Republic was extremely fortunate7. It enabled the shortfall of well qualified local applicants for some courses, and particularly those on the Coleraine and Magee campuses, to be overcome. Without this supply of applicants it is not clear that the University would have been able generally to increase the entry qualifications sought and to fill courses with modest local demand. A result of this change: was that local applicants with more modest entry qualifications, who previously would have secured a place in some subject areas, were no longer able to and were obliged to seek places in Britain. As the data suggest, with the.rapid expansion of places in polytechnics many were able to gain entry to degree programmes at these institutions.

Within UU, most entrants from the Irish Republic initially were to courses based in Coleraine and Magee in Derry. Latterly, the expansion of numbers at these sites has stabilised although numbers have increased at the Jordanstown campus. In 1992/93 2.8 per cent of new full time entrants to degree courses studied on the Belfast campus, 53.5 per cent in Coleraine, 27.4 per cent in Jordanstown and 16.3 per cent in Magee. The numbers of new entrants studying in QUB have been lower than at UU: 173 in QUB in 1992/93 compared to 361 in UU. However, numbers have been rising in recent years.

Conclusions

The 1993/94 Age Participation Index estimate for Northern Ireland is given as 38.5, well in advance of that for England and Wales (30.9). Women now form a slight majority among higher education entrants, reflecting their higher levels of attainment at A level. However, the gender bias in certain subject areas continues to display the “hidden curriculum” which maintains certain subject areas as a male preserve.

The powerhouse of the 1968 Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland was to be found in Queen’s University Students’ Union. A critical mass of Catholic students had entered Queen’s, the only Northern Irish ’ Students coming north from the Republic of Ireland have a clear financial incentive.

Most entrants in the Republic of Ireland have to pay fees which are set at a level much higher than in the UK. Moreover, as UK entrants currently have their fees paid by the state, other EU nationals are entitled to the same treatment. Currently those Republic of Ireland students entitled to a grant can exercise that right if studying in NI but not in the rest of the UK providing a further incentive to study in NI.

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university at that time. By 1991, the majority of full-time undergraduate entrants to Queen’s and the University of Ulster were Catholic. As with gender, the subject bias is one of the most pressing remaining issues in terms of higher education participation. Protestant “flight” can be exaggerated. Upper middle-class Protestant students have always left the Province to study, apart from those entering medicine and law (Moody and Beckett, 1959, 541). However, the loss of these people, at this juncture in the history of Northern Ireland, is of particular concern in terms of the potential contribution these graduates could be expected to make to the political, economic and cultural life in Northern Ireland. The notable low level of participation of Protestant working class males in higher education may have reflected, in the past, the job opportunities this group enjoyed in manufacturing, in for example, Harland and Wolff (shipyard) and in Bombardier/Shorts (aircraft and missiles). These economic advantages are now less and less evident. While the Catholic working class would appear to see higher education as a route to social mobility, it is perhaps ominous that Protestant worlung class males, in the midst of greatly diminished job opportunities, have not yet turned to higher education as an avenue of advancement.

The two Northern Irish universities have delivered a great deal: significantly enhanced opportunities for women, Catholics and mature students. However, the high Northern Irish API is sustained by the large numbers of modest A level achievers entering what were British polytechnics with A level scores which would not have gained them entrance to either of the two Northern Irish institutions.

Two forces threaten what has been achieved in terms of the participation in higher education of Northern Irish students. As the personal cost of higher education rises fewer potential students (and their parents) may be able to afford a higher education, particularly for those intent on, or forced to, leave the Province. Even affluent families, particularly those with more than one child in higher education, may think twice about the adhtional costs of a higher education in a British institution. For poorer families and students the choice may be even more immediate. Now that the target date for the balance between loans and maintenance grants has been lowered from 2007 to 1996, the personal costs will rise faster and the pressures become more intense to stay closer to home to participate in higher education, if they can afford to enter higher education at all (Cormack et al., 1989b). These pressures would increase dramatically if, for example, the National Commission on Education’s proposals to shift far more of the burden of fees and maintenance to students were to be adopted (National Commission on Education, 1993).

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Following the November budget the Department for Education announced a 3.5 per cent cut in student intake for 1994/95. In addition, institutions which grew in 1993/94 by more than the sector’s average of 7 per cent were warned they could expect a cut of 5 per cent or more depending on the extent of their deviation above 7 per cent (Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 1993). Both Queen’s and the University of Ulster exceeded 1993/94 targets by 7 per cent. However, representations from the two universities, using data from this study and elsewhere, to DENI and NIHEC would appear to have been successful in reducing the anticipated cut in 1994195 student intakes*. There are some indications that the equality issue - the differential effect of the anticipated cuts on Catholic participation - was an important factor in the reduced scale of cuts.

The proposed 1994/95 cut in student intakes across British universities will squeeze out many modestly qualified Northern Irish students who increasingly in recent years have found places in the new universities. The rising personal cost of a higher education will further deter some students from entering higher education and persuade others to seek places in Northern Ireland rather than leaving to study in British institutions. While the reduction in the scale of the cuts proposed for the two Northern Irish universities is to be welcomed, there can be little doubt that there will be increased competition in coming years for fewer places.

There are reasons, therefore, to predict that the Northern Irish API will fall in coming years. That, in itself, would be unfortunate, to say the least. However, such a fall would have a differential effect on the two communities in Northern Ireland. Catholics, on average, come from less well off families, they are slightly, on average, less well qualified. The result will be a decline in the Catholic participation rate in higher education. In a divided society such as Northern Ireland, but in any society with a concern for minorities, higher education policies need to be sensitive to the participation rate of students from working class backgrounds and from minority communities9.

The Times Higher Education Supplement (The Higher) in an editorial, recently commended sociology to get “back to basics”:

NIHEC is not a funding council. The DENI funds higher education in Northern Ireland following the parameters set by HEFCE and advised by NIHEC.

In 1994 government policies became subject to the guidelines set out in ‘Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment’. These guidelines place a responsibility on all government departments to review policies and practices to determine whether they have a differential impact on the two communities.

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. . . British sociology needs a dose of the dry empiricism with which it made its name, not only to purge it of its excesses but to re-establish its traditional and correct link with social policy and welfare, an aspect of politics which is proving too important to be left to politicians. (The Higher, 19.11.93, 13)

Although not mentioned specifically, a part of those roots lie in the tradition that Halsey points to as “political arithmetic”: “calculating the chances of reaching various stages in the educational process for children of different class origins” (Karabel and Halsey, 1977, 11; Oxford Review of Education, 1993; Halsey, 1993; and the National Commission on Education, 1993). In Northern Ireland, the focus of The Higher’s editorial recommendations was not lost. There has been a continuing attempt to monitor educational progress not just by social class, but also by gender and religion. As Drudy remarked in a review of work on education in Ireland, the divided nature of Northern Ireland has kept “the extremely political contentious issues of unequal participation and achievement of different groups” at the centre of the research agenda (Drudy, 1991, 118). It is time to take seriously again the principle of equality of educational opportunities and the effects government policies have on enhancing or diminishing these fundamental underpinnings of a liberal society.

References

Butler Report (1987), Report of the Working Party on Research Selectivity (Belfast, HMSO). Chilver Report, (1982), The Future of Higher Education in Northern Ireland (Belfast, HMSO). Cormack, R. J. and Osborne, R. D., (in press), Education in Northern Ireland: The

Struggle for Equality’, in P. Clancy et al . (eds.), Sociology of Ireland (Dublin, Institute of Public Administration).

Cormack, R. J . and Osborne, R. D., (1994), The Evolution of the Catholic Middle Class in A. Guelke (ed.), New Perspectives on the Northern Ireland Conflict (Aldershot, Avebury).

Cormack, R. J., Gallagher, A. M. and Osborne, R. D. (1993), Fair Enough?: Religion and the 1991 Population Census (Belfast, Fair Employment Commission).

Cormack, R. J., Osborne, R. D. and Miller, R. L. (1989a), Student Loans: A Northern Ireland Perspective in Higher Education Quartedy, vol. 43, no. 3 pp. 229-245.

Corniack, R. J., Miller, R. L., Osborne, R. D. and Curry, C. A. (1989b), HigherEducarion Demand Survey (Belfast, Policy Research Institute).

DENI, (1993) personal communication. Drudy, S. (1991), Developments in the Sociology of Education in Ireland 1966-1991 in Irish

Journal of Sociology, vol. 1. IlHSSiRegistrate General, The Northern Ireland Census 1991: Religion Report (Belfast,

HMSO). Gallagher, A. M., Osborne, R. D. and Corrnack, R. J. (in press), The Labour Market

Profiles of Protestants and Catholics: Evidence from the 1991 Census (Belfast, Fair Employment Commission),

Halsey, A. H. (1993), Opening Wide the Doors of Higher Education, National Commission on Education, Briefings, Heinemann.

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Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (1993), 'Recurrent Funding 199495: Student Numbers', Letter to Heads of HEFCE and DENI-Funded Institutions, 16 December.

Karabel, J. and Halsy, A. H. (1977), Poeuer and Ideology in Education (New York, Oxford University Press).

Moody, T. W. and Beckett, J. C. (1959), Queen's University ofBevast 1845-1949 (London, Faber).

National Commission on Education, (1993), Learning w Succeed (London, Heinemann). Osborne, R. D. and Cormack, R. J. (1990), Higher Education and Fair Employment in

Northern Ireland, Higher Education Quanmb, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 325-343. Osborne, R. D. and Cormack, R. J. (1991), Religion and the Labour Market: Patferns and

Profiles in R. J. Cormack and R. D. Osbome (eds.), Disrrbnination and Public Polrry in Northern Ireland (Oxford, Clarendon Press).

Osborne, R. D., Cormack, R. J. and Gallagher, A. M. (1991), Educational Qualifications and the Labour Market in R. J. Cormack and R. D. Osborne (eds.), Disrriminntion a d Public Policy in Nonhern Ireland (Oxford, Clarendon Press).

Osborne, R. D., Miller, R. L., Cormack, R. J. and Williamson, A. P. (1988), Trends in Higher Education Participation in Northern Ireland in The Economic and Social R&, vol. 19, no. 4.

Oxford Review of Education, (1993), Special Issue: Access to Education, vol. 19, NO. 2. Scott, P. (1994), Scottish Higher Education Regained: Accident or Design?, in Scottish

The Times Higher Education Supplement (1993), Sociology Back to Basics, 19.xi.93. University of Ulster (1992), Repon of the Seven Year Review Cm'ttee, 1984-91 (Coleraine,

Affairs, no. 7, Spring.

University of Ulster).

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Documents

Higher Education Participation of Northern Irish Students