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Why people from the UK's minority ethnic communities achieve weaker degree results than whites

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  • Derek Leslie

Abstract

People from the UK's minority ethnic communities achieve less good degree results than whites. The paper explores some reasons for this under-performance. By analysing a large sample of around two million observations a measure of the quality of qualifications among those accepted into Higher Education is developed. It is found that ethnic minorities are less well qualified than whites. This is because proportionately more are accepted into Higher Education, so lower average quality is unsurprising. Subject choice is also found to have an influence because ethnic minorities choose subjects where it is more difficult to achieve a good degree.

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  • Derek Leslie, 2005. "Why people from the UK's minority ethnic communities achieve weaker degree results than whites," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 619-632.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:6:p:619-632
    DOI: 10.1080/0003684042000313172
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dolton, Peter J & Greenaway, David & Vignoles, Anna, 1997. "'Whither Higher Education?' An Economic Perspective for the Dearing Committee of Inquiry," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(442), pages 710-726, May.
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    3. Andrew Abbott & Derek Leslie, 2004. "Recent Trends in Higher Education Applications and Acceptances," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 67-86.
    4. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    5. Stephen V. Cameron & James J. Heckman, 2001. "The Dynamics of Educational Attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White Males," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 455-499, June.
    6. D Leslie, 2004. "Does UK Higher Education Discriminate Against Women?," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 9(2), pages 51-68, September.
    7. Derek Leslie & Stephen Drinkwatr, 1999. "Staying on in Full‐Time Education: Reasons for Higher Participation Rates Among Ethnic Minority Males and Females," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 66(261), pages 63-77, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arouri, Mohamed & Ben-Youssef, Adel & Nguyen, Cuong Viet, 2019. "Ethnic and racial disparities in children's education: Comparative evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 503-514.
    2. Arouri, Mohamed & Ben-Youssef, Adel & Nguyen, Cuong Viet, 2019. "Ethnic and racial disparities in children's education: Comparative evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 503-514.
    3. Dries Lens & François Levrau, 2020. "Can Pre-entry Characteristics Account for the Ethnic Attainment Gap? An Analysis of a Flemish University," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(1), pages 26-50, February.
    4. Zorlu, Aslan, 2011. "Ethnic Disparities in Degree Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 6158, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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