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‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university

Cook, Steve; Watson, Duncan; Webb, Rob

Authors

Steve Cook

Duncan Watson

Rob Webb



Abstract

Mass expansion of the UK Higher Education (HE) sector is eroding its well-documented benefits – leading many to question whether HE remains worthwhile. Avoiding the traditional approach of estimating the returns to HE, we investigate why many now feel that attending university will not yield any financial benefits. Using BSA data from 2010 we find that this negativity is being driven by perceived lack of graduate job prospects, the rise in tuition fees and wage underpayment. We conclude that this may well fuel uncertainty and reduce demand for HE from lower socio-economic groups while increasing intra class conflict in higher socio-economic groups.

Citation

Cook, S., Watson, D., & Webb, R. (2019). ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university. Studies in Higher Education, 44(7), 1256-1267. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 22, 2018
Online Publication Date Feb 9, 2018
Publication Date Feb 9, 2019
Deposit Date Feb 13, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Studies in Higher Education
Print ISSN 0307-5079
Electronic ISSN 1470-174X
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 44
Issue 7
Pages 1256-1267
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616
Keywords Higher education; Graduate premium; Massification; Attitudes; Underpayment
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/911029
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in on Studies in Higher Education, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616"

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