Are top British universities biased against Asians?
27 March 2013 7:42 AM IST
Students from ethnic minorities, including Asians, find it tougher to secure places at top British universities than their white peers with similar grades, according to a new study.
Research by Durham University, to be published in the British Journal of Sociology in June, found that white pupils and those at private schools were more likely to be successful in their applications than black, Asian and state school pupils with the same A-level grades.
‘The headline conclusion of the analysis is that access to Russell Group universities is far from fair,’ says Vikki Boliver, the author of the report. The Russell Group represents 24 of the UK’s most prestigious universities including the likes of Oxford and Cambridge.
Researchers looked at application data of these universities for 49,000 students from 1996 to 2006.
Using data from the UCAS admissions service, they found that some pupils were less likely to get places than others and also discovered different patterns of under-representation for different groups of applicants. For black and Asian applicants, the study says the barrier appeared to be in the admissions process.
They were confident enough to apply to these top universities, but were less likely to be offered places than similarly qualified white students.
Boliver stressed that there was a need to look ‘more deeply’ into what was happening as their analysis of UCAS data cannot show why there should be a different pattern of acceptances for different groups.
‘This is something that cannot be ignored. We just know there is a problem, we need to know the causes,’ she said, adding that it might reflect that the applications process uses predicted grades rather than actual A-level results.
The Russell Group suggests there could be other factors influencing the different outcomes.
Research by Durham University, to be published in the British Journal of Sociology in June, found that white pupils and those at private schools were more likely to be successful in their applications than black, Asian and state school pupils with the same A-level grades.
‘The headline conclusion of the analysis is that access to Russell Group universities is far from fair,’ says Vikki Boliver, the author of the report. The Russell Group represents 24 of the UK’s most prestigious universities including the likes of Oxford and Cambridge.
Researchers looked at application data of these universities for 49,000 students from 1996 to 2006.
Using data from the UCAS admissions service, they found that some pupils were less likely to get places than others and also discovered different patterns of under-representation for different groups of applicants. For black and Asian applicants, the study says the barrier appeared to be in the admissions process.
They were confident enough to apply to these top universities, but were less likely to be offered places than similarly qualified white students.
Boliver stressed that there was a need to look ‘more deeply’ into what was happening as their analysis of UCAS data cannot show why there should be a different pattern of acceptances for different groups.
‘This is something that cannot be ignored. We just know there is a problem, we need to know the causes,’ she said, adding that it might reflect that the applications process uses predicted grades rather than actual A-level results.
The Russell Group suggests there could be other factors influencing the different outcomes.
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