Who's in the talent pool? Understanding diversity in labour market entrants across England

Research on intergenerational income mobility has shown that the UK has relatively low mobility compared to other countries and that this is, in part, driven by inequalities in access to elite occupations in the labour market by socio-economic background. Many employers are actively trying to reduce these gaps in access by socio-economic background, as well as by ethnicity and gender, forreasons of efficiency as well as equity. But they lack access to detailed information about the relevant pools of talent from which they are hiring to set informed hiring targets. This study provides such information by describing the talent pool of English domiciled university graduates and school leavers in terms of socio-economic background, ethnicity and gender by university type, subject and outcomes and school prior attainment. Importantly, given the diversity in ethnicity by place in England, it also provides details of talent pools by Travel to Work Area. Large differences in demographic make-up by attainment, institution type, subject and place are found.