Post-graduation reflections on the value of a degree

These short extracts from published research papers are provided to support class discussion.

Brooks, R., & Everett, G. (2009). Post-graduation reflections on the value of a degree. British Educational Research Journal, 35(3), 333-349. doi: 10.1080/01411920802044370

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of a changing higher education system on young adults’ priorities and motivations. A considerable number of studies have explored the impact of recent changes on patterns of participation within higher education. However, there has been less emphasis on how such changes have been played out in the experiences of graduates and, more specifically, in the interface between higher education and lifelong learning. To redress this gap, this article explores the changes to graduates’ experiences brought about by the ‘massification’ of the higher education system. Research conducted amongst young people in Australia has suggested that as result of the normalisation of post-compulsory education and the encouragement of high aspirations, young people have come to assume a one-to-one relationship between being qualified and having a lasting professional career. It has been argued that as a result of these assumptions, young adults are often disappointed when they do eventually enter the labour market, and experience uncertainties previously associated with the end of compulsory schooling. If young adults do indeed feel misled about the rewards of a higher education, it is possible that this may have a significant bearing on their perceptions of the value of engaging in further education and training in the future. Drawing on 90 life history interviews with graduates in their mid-twenties, this article explores the prevalence of such attitudes in the UK and their impact on young adults’ attitudes to lifelong learning.

"This article draws on evidence from 90 adults in their mid-twenties, most of whom had graduated in 2000. They had studied at one of six different higher education institutions (HEIs)—chosen to reflect different ‘market positions’ (an Oxbridge college, a college of the University of London, a redbrick university, a 1960s campus university, a post-92 university and a college of higher education) and were recruited through a mailing sent out by the alumni offices of the six institutions and advertisements on ‘Friends Reunited’ (a UK-based Internet site that aims to ‘reunite’ old friends from school, college and university). In-depth, life history interviews were conducted with the sample between September 2005 and January 2006. pp.335-336

"The life history approach used in the project was based on an inductive, ‘realist’ perspective (Miller, 2000). This assumes that the data collected through such histories can be used to construct general principles about social phenomena, and that ‘the viewpoints of actors do represent an aspect of an objective reality’ (p. 11)." p.336

"The life history interviews were largely unstructured — to allow respondents to tell their own stories in their own words—but were informed by a broad ‘topic guide’.This covered: the young adults’ experiences of higher education, employment and any education, training or other form of learning that they had undertaken since leaving university; the meanings respondents attached to work, learning and leisure; and the relative importance of these activities in their lives." p.336

"With the permission of the respondents, the individual interviews were tape- recorded and transcribed. The research questions, wider literature and analytic notes taken immediately after each interview were then used to develop a thematic framework for analysing the material. This was used methodically to code the interview data, using NVivo. The coded material was then used to identify patterns across the data, and tentative theories and explanations were developed.

Two focus groups were then held with a sub-sample of the respondents (10 young adults from all HEIs apart from Oxbridge) to discuss cross-cutting issues that had emerged from analysis of the individual interviews. Although the issues discussed within the focus groups were closely linked to the research questions that informed the study, they were structured around common issues that emerged from the first stage of the research, rather than individual biographies. As such, they made it easier to compare the experiences of the young adults and test out some emerging hypotheses. Moreover, the focus groups facilitated the analytical technique of saturating categories or ‘negative case analysis’ whereby examples that might modify or disprove emerging ideas were sought, until new data merely reinforced existing categories." p.336

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