Transitions from Higher Education

This project explores young people’s transitions from higher education. It uses surveys and questionnaires with students who are in their final year of undergraduate study on education/ social sciences degrees. The study is being conducted in three different universities (post-1992, million plus and Russell Group) with students from different backgrounds. There is evidence to suggest that students from different backgrounds (based on their ethnic and social class backgrounds) experience different disadvantages when making these transitions (Khambhatia and Bhopal, 2013; Nielsen, 2012). This study explores if students from different backgrounds who attend a range of universities have diverse experiences.  

The aims of the study are: 

•   To understand the experiences of students in their final year of undergraduate study

•   To explore future choices such as post graduate study, entrance into the labour market

•   To analyse the impact of ethnicity, class and gender during this critical transitional period

•   To draw on theories of intersectionality to analyse these experiences (Crenshaw, 1989)