New research from Universities UK demonstrates the extraordinary power of university for those students who are the first in their family to attend.
Research from Universities UK (UUK) highlights the powerful positive impact of university, including that almost three quarters (73%) of ‘first-in-the-family’ (FitF) graduates agreed their degree gave them the confidence to apply for jobs without feeling like an imposter. This is despite 65% saying they thought twice about going at all, because of said imposter syndrome.
However, without their main source of financial support, 4 in 10 (41%) FitF graduates couldn’t have gone to university at all. This is equivalent to around 1.1 million 24–40-year-olds in England and Wales.
As well as impacts on imposter syndrome, FitF graduates credit university with making them more confident in themselves (78%). Indeed, for over a quarter (28%) of graduates and almost a third (30%) of FitF graduates, going to university was the best decision they have ever made, and a large majority of FitF said it was a good decision (56%).
