ABOUT
This project explores access to the professions in the UK via alternative pathways – university and apprenticeships. The introduction of degree apprenticeships in 2015 seeks to tackle social inequalities in access to work, wages, and skills opportunities through the promotion of vocational education and training, and feature in the UK Government’s levelling-up agenda.
Why does this matter?
The competition for access to decent work, particularly highly paid, high-status professional occupations is intense and has a long association with inequality in access and progression. Where you come from, your academic performance, and where you went to university all play a role in the opportunities for career entry and progression that open up. The apprenticeship pathway provides an attractive route that could disrupt these inequalities. Exploring educational institutions and professional organisations' structures, recruitment practices and strategies, as well as how individuals perceive and experience these, is essential in uncovering barriers and/or highlighting good practices.
CONTACT
Dr Caroline Barrett is an academic at the School for Business and Society, University of York. She conducts largely qualitative research to explore alternative pathways into professional occupations, such as degree apprenticeships and university. Her recent research focuses on social inequalities in access to the Solicitors’ profession in England. She is interested in the disruptive potential of different pathways in addressing longstanding inequalities in access and progression based on socio-economic background, as well as the impact on diversity, inclusion and wellbeing. Her work draws on sociological theory, particularly the sociology of education and the professions, to explore the motivations for pathway choices and experiences of alternative pathways. Prior to joining the School for Business and Society, Caroline was a lawyer and legal educator, most recently tutoring at the University of Law. She was also an associate researcher with the Bridge Group, a social mobility charity, where she contributed to research focused on issues of access and progression in the banking, finance and real estate sectors.