‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university
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 fin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49747/ |
| _version_ | 1848798068221149184 |
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| author | Cook, Steve Watson, Duncan Webb, Rob |
| author_facet | Cook, Steve Watson, Duncan Webb, Rob |
| author_sort | Cook, Steve |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:13:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-49747 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:13:53Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-497472020-05-04T19:31:39Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49747/ ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university Cook, Steve Watson, Duncan Webb, Rob 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. Taylor & Francis 2018-02-09 Article PeerReviewed Cook, Steve, Watson, Duncan and Webb, Rob (2018) ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university. Studies in Higher Education . ISSN 1470-174X Higher education; Graduate premium; Massification; Attitudes; Underpayment https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616 doi:10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616 doi:10.1080/03075079.2018.1434616 |
| spellingShingle | Higher education; Graduate premium; Massification; Attitudes; Underpayment Cook, Steve Watson, Duncan Webb, Rob ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title | ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title_full | ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title_fullStr | ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title_short | ‘It’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| title_sort | ‘it’s just not worth a damn!: investigating perceptions of the value in attending university |
| topic | Higher education; Graduate premium; Massification; Attitudes; Underpayment |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49747/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49747/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49747/ |