asked the Minister for Education if he will provide a breakdown in socio-economic groups, of those who avail of third level education and his views on the lack of opportunity to aspire to third level education by sections of the community.
Written Answers. - Socio-Economic Background of Students.
20.
Data concerning the socio-economic background of all students in third level education are not available. The Deputy will find, however, in the statistical table which I propose to circulate in the Official Report, information regarding the socio-economic background of students who entered third level education for the 1984-85 academic year.
I am of course concerned at the under-representation of certain socio-economic groups in third level education. Having said that, I would have to point out that increasing participation by these groups in higher education is a complex problem. In addition to educational factors it includes social and attitudinal aspects, some of which are outside the control of the educational system. Failure of students from these groups to complete second level education is part of the problem.
Following is the table:
Socio-Economic Background of Students who entered Third-level Education in the 1984/85 Academic year.
|
Social Groups |
Universities and other HEA Colleges |
Vocational and other Third-Level Colleges |
Total |
Percentage of Total |
Percentage of Social Group in Total population (1981 census) |
|
Farmers |
863 |
1,377 |
2,240 |
12.1 |
13.6 |
|
Agricultural Workers |
244 |
253 |
497 |
2.7 |
2.9 |
|
Higher Professional |
1,158 |
537 |
1,695 |
9.2 |
3.8 |
|
Lower Professional |
810 |
578 |
1,388 |
7.5 |
5.0 |
|
Employers and Managers |
1,207 |
970 |
2,177 |
11.8 |
6.8 |
|
Salaried Employees |
705 |
485 |
1,190 |
6.4 |
2.2 |
|
Intermediate Non-Manual Workers |
1,003 |
1,166 |
2,169 |
11.7 |
12.8 |
|
Other Non-Manual |
352 |
264 |
616 |
3.3 |
10.9 |
|
Skilled Manual |
545 |
888 |
1,433 |
7.7 |
19.3 |
|
Semi-Skilled Manual |
166 |
447 |
613 |
3.3 |
5.8 |
|
Unskilled Manual |
225 |
238 |
463 |
2.5 |
6.8 |
|
Unknown |
1,059 |
2,974 |
4,033 |
21.8 |
10.1 |
|
Total |
8,337* |
10,177+ |
18,514 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
*Data in respect of HEA Colleges refer to first-time entrants only.
+Data in respect of Vocational and other Third-Level Colleges include 586 students who entered a third-level course having completed or partially completed another third-level course.