Labours Positive Discrimination Works its Magic
- Thread starter Kurt
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2005
Doesn't really tell us the issues though, merely observes trends and figures.
Things like the following might be useful
Have the grades of white teenagers gone down...why?
Does the generally more stable families of Asians, Chinese or their stricter discipline etc lead to better grades?
Are there schools under achieving? what is the reasons?
Are Uni fees a major impact in the decision not to apply?
There can be hundreds more questions, but just putting up figures do not tell us much
Things like the following might be useful
Have the grades of white teenagers gone down...why?
Does the generally more stable families of Asians, Chinese or their stricter discipline etc lead to better grades?
Are there schools under achieving? what is the reasons?
Are Uni fees a major impact in the decision not to apply?
There can be hundreds more questions, but just putting up figures do not tell us much
SKII
Private Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2004
It refers to another report by the London School of Economics that also shows whilst more ethnic minorities apply (per head of their demographic) less of them get in/get offers. More than 70% of the kids who get offers are white.
BBC News - for minority groups
However, the group with the biggest chance of getting in and the highest chance of applying are those from Chinese background.
The one significant thing that this doesn't address is the "extra things" a kid has to demonstrate to get an offer these days. The qualifications are not enough. It is not a case of Wee Jimmy has 5 Highers, all As and wee Bobby has 5 Highers, all As... so they should both get in. Wee Jimmy might have a Gold DoE Award, does weekly voluntary work, has significant work experience related to their prospective course and plays for the regional rugby team. Wee Bobby might not have done very much other than study. Wee Jimmy will get the offer ahead of wee Bobby. Wee Bobby's access to all the extra things might be limited because of his background and opportunities. Wee Jimmy might have parents who have the capacity to support making the extra things happen.
Personal statements when applying to universities are hugely important. The extra-curricular or related vocational work experience are ultra important. Therefore, the advantaged kid, or the kid from a background where parents are actively engaged in supporting or have the capacity to build "the cv" will come through more often than not.
Even more so the case at the Russell Group unis and for courses such as medicine and vet med. I speak from very recent, very direct experience.
* also this only refers to England where the demographics are hugely different to ours
BBC News - for minority groups
However, the group with the biggest chance of getting in and the highest chance of applying are those from Chinese background.
The one significant thing that this doesn't address is the "extra things" a kid has to demonstrate to get an offer these days. The qualifications are not enough. It is not a case of Wee Jimmy has 5 Highers, all As and wee Bobby has 5 Highers, all As... so they should both get in. Wee Jimmy might have a Gold DoE Award, does weekly voluntary work, has significant work experience related to their prospective course and plays for the regional rugby team. Wee Bobby might not have done very much other than study. Wee Jimmy will get the offer ahead of wee Bobby. Wee Bobby's access to all the extra things might be limited because of his background and opportunities. Wee Jimmy might have parents who have the capacity to support making the extra things happen.
Personal statements when applying to universities are hugely important. The extra-curricular or related vocational work experience are ultra important. Therefore, the advantaged kid, or the kid from a background where parents are actively engaged in supporting or have the capacity to build "the cv" will come through more often than not.
Even more so the case at the Russell Group unis and for courses such as medicine and vet med. I speak from very recent, very direct experience.
* also this only refers to England where the demographics are hugely different to ours
egb_hibs
Private Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2002
I seem to recall reading that when some US universities adopted colin blind admission processes the number of Asians (in yank terminology people of Chinese / SE Asian extraction) rocketed. This maps to iq tests where the Chinese and Jews are ahead, followed by categories in white people. Interestingly, among the USAs black population, Caribbean and African immigrants do much better than indigenous American blacks (ie descended from slave population) which gives hope that we're not just doomed by our genes - though I suspect there's more to that than we'd like. In the UK, African immigrants also do better than our long settled Caribbean descended black Britons, which I have read attributed to their more religiously influenced stabler family units and value system.
Whatever the truth of the last, it seems unavoidable to me that cultural dimensions are all over this - the difference between Hindu/Sikh/Christian immigrants from the Indian sub continent and Muslim Pakistani / Bangladeshi immigrants is another stark example, which is encouraging once more in its evidence against genetic determinism but also smacks of culture being central.
Whatever the truth of the last, it seems unavoidable to me that cultural dimensions are all over this - the difference between Hindu/Sikh/Christian immigrants from the Indian sub continent and Muslim Pakistani / Bangladeshi immigrants is another stark example, which is encouraging once more in its evidence against genetic determinism but also smacks of culture being central.