The road not taken: the drivers of course selection

The Social Mobility Commission is inviting proposals for research to understand why disadvantaged students tend to cluster in low returning courses. Across both classroom-based technical education and workplace training (i.e. apprenticeships), research suggests that disadvantaged students tend to cluster in course subjects with the lowest wage returns and be dramatically underrepresented in subjects with high returns.

This research will build on these findings to understand why. It will attempt to understand what factors are the most influential, and therefore where policy interventions could make the greatest difference.

The Commission hypothesises that the following factors may be influential in the determinants of course selection: prior attainment, entry level requirements, careers information, advice, and guidance, aspirational differences, parental influences, cultural factors, network effects, geographic availability and employer recruitment practices. This list is not exhaustive, and researchers should work with the Commission to shape the research with their own input.