Recognising universities’ opportunity footprints can help turbocharge change
Higher education is a gateway to opportunity. It certainly opened doors for me that I would never have been able to walk through without it. It’s the same for millions of other people whose lives have been transformed by going to university, and it’s why thousands of pupils will be working so hard this summer to get the A Level results they need so that they can also reap the rewards our world class higher education system has to offer.
As engines of social mobility, however, the role of our universities extends far beyond their core mission of educating their students, and it is time to recognise that if we are to open up opportunity to everyone wherever they are in our country. Universities are helping to raise standards in schools, driving the economies of today and the future, alongside the contribution we all know they make through fostering individuals’ growth. With their role as major employers, our higher education system itself is creating careers and adding value more broadly to local communities and economies through that job creation and through their spending power and that of their students. It all means that the opportunities universities generate can be transformational, not only for individuals but for the entire regions they serve – a much bigger ‘opportunity footprint.
In addition, there is so much we can learn from the university ‘mindset’ of being an anchor institution, rooted in their local areas. It’s more than just the presence of students, but also their wider social and economic contribution. Our universities are able to make a sustainable and tangible difference because they are part of communities and regions for the long term, with a significant stake in uplifting their communities. It means they can work alongside major local employers who are also instrumental in creating the sustainable opportunities that are vital for connecting students with job opportunities. It’s never been clearer that our universities are taking on that wider mindset of community and economy building.
Now, this long-standing experience of working in communities can be shared with a new generation of Purpose Coalition businesses who are also challenging themselves to widen access to their own opportunities and to improve themselves as employers where a more diverse talent pipeline can thrive. Our universities have spent the past two decades already doing sterling work on widening access and participation, especially through extensive outreach work with schools and colleges. That work educates and informs those with no knowledge or experience of university to consider that it can be an option for someone like them, regardless of their background. Rightly, the issue has been an area of intense focus for policymakers. Businesses and employers now need to do the same, learning from the huge breadth of initiatives that universities have developed to help their students get in and get on. Our work in the Purpose Coalition is to have employers offering opportunities as widely as our higher education sector has been doing.
This was examined in a report published last year as the first step in the Purpose Coalition’s Raising Standards, Creating Opportunities advocacy and policy campaign. It featured examples of best practice from across the country that were tailored to meet the particular challenges of the communities they serve, showcasing a range of innovative approaches which are making a difference. Many of our Purpose Coalition employers are already themselves asking how they can use those same insights and best practice.
A second report published earlier this month, How Universities are Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity, looks at the final stage of the higher education pipeline as education, knowledge transfer and research all crystalise into stronger opportunities – the ‘opportunity footprint’ - and also includes inspiring case studies. In addition to the invaluable work featured in the first report, the wider ‘opportunity footprints’ we have identified are often underestimated and undervalued by policymakers. These should be integrated into a much more strategic approach from policymakers and across higher education - to create a talent pipeline that provides opportunities for graduates to access rewarding and well-paid careers; to offer entrepreneurship opportunities for students and local and regional SMEs; to drive economic growth opportunities for existing sectors; to generate world class research and innovation opportunities which create the new growth sectors of the future and to provide career opportunities in higher education as local employers.
Our report underlines that if a government only focuses on graduate outcomes, it’s clear that they are missing the much bigger picture. They are failing to acknowledge the defining, far broader role that universities play in delivering a huge raft of other benefits which uplift the areas, regions and economic sectors they serve – and beyond. That must change and, as the next step forward, there needs to be a much more robust focus on the ‘opportunity footprints’ they offer and from which business might also learn if they are to successfully nurture the talent pipeline and widen opportunity.
In the same way that universities have highly effectively shared best practice on widening access and participation, there’s a huge benefit from doing the same on best practice from the different ‘opportunity footprints’ our Purpose Coalition universities make. The higher education sector is facing unprecedented challenges. Now is the right time to acknowledge the vital role they play. More importantly, we should map out how they are already making a difference and how they can make an even greater contribution to enabling everyone to reach their potential and to the national economic prosperity that this country is able to achieve.
