Inequality in education and employment associated with race in this country are exposed in the stark language of a government report:
“Black and minority ethnic[1] groups tend to have higher levels of post 16 education, when compared with those from the White British group, yet not necessarily better labour market outcomes. …most black and minority ethnic groups have larger proportions doing KS5 [Key Stage 5] and going on to HE, but this does not necessarily lead to higher proportions in employment and lower proportions claiming out of work benefits” (Anderson and Nelson 2021, p33).
That conclusion in a study for the Department of Education (DfE) belies the blithe assumption behind much education policy that has connected participation in education unproblematically to better employment opportunities and so to upward social mobility. That education policy and the assumption on which it is based have seen educational institutions “transformed into drivers of capital accumulation in a new form of exchange where learning equals earning” as Brown, Lauder and Cheung (2020, p1) have described in their book The Death of Human Capital. They make clear in their detailed critique of human capital theory that for some and especially for those within certain black and ethnic minorities, learning does not always equal earning.
Elsewhere, much has been written about race and education around schools and universities, but very much less in the context of colleges and VET. Reflecting on that omission, last year, the government’s Social Mobility Commission (SMC) expressed concern that “some perspectives tend to dominate the policy debate”. “Widening access to university, for example, has not brought the dividends many hoped for, and has diverted attention away from the 50% that pursue other routes (SMC, 2022, p11).
