THE ‘BUSINESS’ OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN FURTHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Jennifer AllenCandidate for Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of EducationUniversity of Oxfordjennifer.allen@education.ox.ac.uk

CURRENTLY…

Source: Cham (2010)

OUTLINE

The HE in FE landscape Effect of the landscape on research

Research to date A few initial findings

WARNING: ACRONYMS AHEAD

HEIs higher education institutions universities

FEIs further education institutions all institutions in the English further education sector

THE HE IN FE LANDSCAPE

DEFINING HE IN FE

HE in FE: Degree-level courses which are taught wholly or

partially in further education institutions

(FEIs).

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

What strikes an outsider—perhaps an American especially—is the enormous gulf that exists between further and

higher education in Britain (Trow, 1987: 219).

2011 WHITE PAPER

‘Our reforms are designed to deliver a more responsive higher education sector in which funding follows the decisions of

learners…in which further education colleges…are encouraged to offer a diverse range of higher education

provision’ (GBDBIS, 2011: 8).

THE ENGLISH ARGUMENT

All higher education takes place at universities.

All degrees are higher education. Therefore, all degrees take place at universities.

OFFERING HE IN FE

Franchise model: HEIs register students and ‘franchise’ them to FEIs

Direct funding model: HEFCE gives FEIs funding to support HE

For both models, university validates degree

Student graduates with university degree (sometimes without going to the university)

THE NUMBERS

Source: Parry et al., 2012: 12

THE NUMBERS

Source: HEFCE, 2011

THE NUMBERS

Sources: Parry et al., 2012: 12 and HESA, 2012

LEADING TO…

‘…a high degree of complexity in a relatively small segment of the

higher education system’ (Parry et al., 2012: 23).

EFFECT OF LANDSCAPE

Complexity of provision Political dynamics in access

arrangements Lack of data

RESEARCH TO DATE

THE KEY QUESTION

Does the location of HE matter to and for the

students?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What factors influence students’ decisions about where to pursue HE (i.e. at an FEI or university)?

How does the HE student experience compare between FEIs and universities?

Are the employment outcomes of FEI graduates different from university graduates? If so, in what ways are they different?

How do the employment outcomes of HE graduates within six months after graduation compare with their expectations?

SIMPLIFIED

Decisions Experiences Employment expectations Employment outcomes

RESEARCH DESIGN

2 universities and 4 colleges Two regions of England Final year (BA) undergraduate business

students Questionnaire (N=1,457) and interviews

(N=48) Interviews are pre- and post-graduation

DECISIONS

Cheaper Local (easy to get to) Flexible schedule Supportive environment Provide university degrees

DECISIONS

‘[It’s] cheap…I would’ve chosen business in any other university, however I would say I’m pleased with choosing this college itself, of course with its relation with [the university]. I wouldn’t want as, as a person to have just a degree which says [the college’s name]. No disrespect to [the college], however, it’s the market. There is a competition—people with degrees from different universities and master’s and there’s no jobs. So I would like at least my qualification to be certified by a university’.

30-year-old college student

EXPERIENCES

Very well supported Close with tutors and course mates Lacking in resources Generalised course structure Varied teaching style

EXPERIENCES

‘…we’re doing a higher education course in a primarily FE college—further education college—and I think there’s, there’s no clear divide of the two. So, you know, some days you’ll be spoon fed everything like…an A-Level student…and then other days, from the same person, you’ll be told that “Oh, we don’t offer any assistance—it’s all independent study”. There’s no, no constant with it’.

24-year-old college student

EMPLOYMENT EXPECTATIONS

Graduate schemes ‘I want to be happy and have a comfortable

lifestyle.’ ‘I want a career rather than “just” a job.’ ‘I’ll be happy to even get a job.’

EMPLOYMENT EXPECTATIONS

‘…my main aim is really just to have a job…’cos I know how hard it is recently to get—people out of employment and stuff…even if it’s not in what I want to do, at least I’m gonna have something until something comes up which is more what I want to do…money’s money…I wouldn’t mind going and working at one of the shops here—the retail shops, the clothes shops—it’s a job’.

20-year-old college student

EMPLOYMENT EXPECTATIONS

Source: Share (2012)

THANK YOU!

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

REFERENCES

Cham, J. (2010) PhD Comics. Available from: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1274 [Accessed 5 February 2010]

Great Britain, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (2011) Students at the Heart of the System. London: The Stationery Office.

Higher Education Funding Council for England (2011) Recurrent grants for 2011-12. Bristol: HEFCE.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (2012) Statistics – Students and qualifiers from UK HE institutions. Available from: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/1897/239 [Accessed 30 March 2012]

Parry, G., Callendar, C., Scott, P., and Temple, P. (2012) Understanding higher education in further education colleges. [Online]. (Research paper number 69). Available from: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/u/12-905-understanding-higher-education-in-further-education-colleges.pdf [Accessed 4 July 2012]

Share, J. (2012) JobMob. Available from: http://jobmob.co.il/blog/lessons-never-learned-in-school. [Accessed 31 January 2013]

Trow, M. (1987) Academic standards and mass higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 41(3), 268-292.