Those from the most privileged backgrounds have come to dominate British science and will continue to do so, according to new report.
Researchers from the Sutton Trust, which campaigns for educational equality, analysed the school and university backgrounds of 1,700 fellows of the Royal Society and the British Academy. They found 42% of them were educated in private schools.
“This report is yet more evidence of the uneven life chances in Britain,” says Peter Lampl, chairman of the trust (press release). “Students from the independent sector, which educates just seven percent of children, are substantially more likely to reach the top of our most coveted professions and succeed in influential walks of life.”
A small number of elite individual schools are also overrepresented, with list of schools contributing the most fellows having the recognisable names of Eton, Winchester, and St Paul’s at the top. The report also found that of those educated in the UK, 68% of British Academy fellows and 47% of Royal Society fellows went of either Oxford or Cambridge university.
Are things going to get better? Not without change, says the trust. The report notes, “If the leading scientists and scholars of 2050 more or less reflect the current student intakes at these highly-ranked universities, then we will continue to see fewer state educated figures, particularly from our most deprived neighbourhoods and most challenging schools, than if we were truly making the most of the talents of bright young people from all backgrounds.”
As the report notes, it is not just science where private schools dominate, although only 7 in 100 children aged 11 are educated in these institutions, they go on to make up 70% of judges and 54% of news journalists, and 51% of medics.
Robin Jackson, chief executive of the British Academy, says (via the Scotsman), “Election to the Fellowship of the British Academy is based on academic excellence alone, with a selection process blind as to school attended. However, we note this report with interest. The academy itself highlighted the difficulties facing state school pupils in our recent policy report on the serious decline in modern language learning.”
UPDATE – Stephen Cox, executive secretary of the Royal Society, has issued this response: “Election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society is based on scientific excellence and rigorous peer review of the contribution of each individual scientist. The Fellows come from a range of educational backgrounds with 62 per cent of those who responded to this survey having attended state schools. However, the fact that 38 per cent of the fellows had attended independent schools does highlight past weaknesses in the state sector when it comes to delivering the best science education.”
Image: by Paul Lowry via Flickr under creative commons