Harrison Neil, Baker Zoë, Stevenson Jacqueline
Rees Centre, Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Centre for Development and Research in Education, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK.
High Educ (Dordr). 2022;83(2):357-378. doi: 10.1007/s10734-020-00660-w. Epub 2020 Dec 20.
Life outcomes for people who spent time in the care of the state as children ('care-experienced') are known to be significantly lower, on average, than for the general population. The reasons for this are complex and multidimensional, relating to social upheaval, disrupted schooling, mental and physical health issues and societal stigmatisation. Previous studies across several countries have demonstrated that they are significantly less likely to participate in higher education and more likely to withdraw early. However, little is currently known about their outcomes after graduation. This paper therefore explores the initial outcomes for the 1,010 full-time students identified as care-experienced within the cohort graduating from an undergraduate degree programme in the UK in 2016/17-the most recent year for which data are available. They were found to be slightly more likely to be unemployed and less likely to be in work (and particularly professional work) than their peers, but, conversely, more likely to be studying. These differences largely disappeared once background educational and demographic factors were controlled. The paper discusses the relationship between care-experience and other sites of inequality, concluding that care-experienced graduates are crucially over-represented in groups that are disadvantaged in the graduate labour market-e.g. by ethnicity, disability or educational history. This intersectional inequality largely explains their lower graduate outcomes. While there are important limitations with the data available, this speaks for the transformational potential of higher education in enabling care-experienced graduates to transcend childhood adversity. Recommendations for national policy and local practices conclude the paper.
众所周知，那些童年时期曾受国家照料的人（“有受照料经历者”）的生活状况平均而言明显低于普通人群。其原因复杂且具有多面性，涉及社会动荡、学业中断、身心健康问题以及社会污名化。此前多个国家的研究表明，他们接受高等教育的可能性显著较低，且更早退学的可能性更大。然而，目前对于他们毕业后的情况知之甚少。因此，本文探讨了在2016/17年从英国本科学位课程毕业的那一届学生中被认定为有受照料经历的1010名全日制学生的初步情况——这是有数据可查的最近一年。结果发现，与同龄人相比，他们失业的可能性略高，就业（尤其是从事专业工作）的可能性较低，但相反，他们继续深造的可能性更大。一旦控制了背景教育和人口因素，这些差异基本消失。本文讨论了受照料经历与其他不平等因素之间的关系，得出的结论是，有受照料经历的毕业生在毕业生劳动力市场中处于不利地位的群体（例如因种族、残疾或教育背景）中所占比例过高。这种交叉性不平等在很大程度上解释了他们较低的毕业成果。尽管现有数据存在重要局限性，但这表明高等教育在使有受照料经历的毕业生超越童年逆境方面具有变革潜力。本文最后给出了对国家政策和地方实践的建议。
