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21/07/2009
Call To End 'School Elitism' Over Jobs
Children from middle and working class families are missing out on top professions such as medicine and law according to a government-commissioned report into social mobility.
The report, 'Fair Access to the Professions', from a cross-party panel chaired by the former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn, calls for more equal opportunities in education and employment.
It says urgent action is needed to break "closed shop mentality" which still characterises the professions in Britain.
The panel was originally set up by Gordon Brown to examine the barriers to entering the professions.
In more than 80 recommendations the report argues that enhancing social mobility must be the top social priority for any government, now and in the future.
A large expansion of professional jobs in the next decade have the potential to create a new wave of social mobility, however those jobs will be out of reach of low- and middle-income young people if the "educational attainment gap" remains.
The wide-ranging study found more than half of all the top professional jobs were still taken by candidates who were independently schooled: accounting for just 7% of all school children.
The report shows while up to nine out of 10 new jobs in the future will be in the professions, they are currently filled by a relatively narrow section of society.
At present 75% of judges and 45% of senior civil servants are independently educated. People entering careers such as medicine, law and journalism are increasingly likely to be from more affluent families.
Mr Milburn said: "It's not that Britain doesn't have talent, to coin a phrase - Britain has lots of talent.
"What we have got to do is open up these opportunities so they are available for everybody."
The report criticises informal recruitment systems as becoming a back-door for better-off, better-connected youngsters. Work placements or internships can often depend on "who you know", putting children with no connections to the professions at a disadvantage.
Privately schooled children or those from the best state schools have the advantage of development through extra-curricular activities and mentoring schemes - these help mark out candidates applying for jobs in the professions.
(GK/KMcA)
The report, 'Fair Access to the Professions', from a cross-party panel chaired by the former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn, calls for more equal opportunities in education and employment.
It says urgent action is needed to break "closed shop mentality" which still characterises the professions in Britain.
The panel was originally set up by Gordon Brown to examine the barriers to entering the professions.
In more than 80 recommendations the report argues that enhancing social mobility must be the top social priority for any government, now and in the future.
A large expansion of professional jobs in the next decade have the potential to create a new wave of social mobility, however those jobs will be out of reach of low- and middle-income young people if the "educational attainment gap" remains.
The wide-ranging study found more than half of all the top professional jobs were still taken by candidates who were independently schooled: accounting for just 7% of all school children.
The report shows while up to nine out of 10 new jobs in the future will be in the professions, they are currently filled by a relatively narrow section of society.
At present 75% of judges and 45% of senior civil servants are independently educated. People entering careers such as medicine, law and journalism are increasingly likely to be from more affluent families.
Mr Milburn said: "It's not that Britain doesn't have talent, to coin a phrase - Britain has lots of talent.
"What we have got to do is open up these opportunities so they are available for everybody."
The report criticises informal recruitment systems as becoming a back-door for better-off, better-connected youngsters. Work placements or internships can often depend on "who you know", putting children with no connections to the professions at a disadvantage.
Privately schooled children or those from the best state schools have the advantage of development through extra-curricular activities and mentoring schemes - these help mark out candidates applying for jobs in the professions.
(GK/KMcA)
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