Students from disadvantaged backgrounds study for?longer than their mainstream peers to?compensate for?their low standing in?the socio-economic pecking order, research suggests.

An Australian analysis has challenged higher education¡¯s image as an ¡°equaliser¡±, finding that recent graduates from ¡°equity¡± groups ¨C such as Indigenous, poor or non-English-speaking communities ¨C are less likely to be employed and well-paid than their ¡°non-equity¡± counterparts.

But they are more likely to be back at university, often studying for second bachelor¡¯s degrees.

The research, published in the , contradicts a decade of findings that disadvantaged graduates generally experience similar employment, earnings and job quality outcomes as their peers from more privileged backgrounds.

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The study found that graduates from socio-economically disadvantaged communities, students with disabilities and particularly people from non-English-speaking backgrounds fared relatively poorly. Those in the last group were 20?per cent less likely than non-equity Australians to have full-time jobs, and they earned about 8?per cent less for each hour¡¯s work.

But like Indigenous Australians and people with disabilities, they were about 5?per cent more likely to be in further study ¨C possibly because of workforce discrimination. ¡°[Perhaps] these students feel as though their initial degree did not adequately equip them for the labour market,¡± the paper speculates. ¡°Given the direct and opportunity costs associated with further study, this may have negative economic consequences.¡±

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Corresponding author Ian?Li proposed another explanation for non-English-speaking background graduates¡¯ tendency to prolong their studies. ¡°This could be a case of students being pressured to take courses that were not in their interests,¡± said Dr?Li, an economist with the University of Western Australia¡¯s School of Population and Global Health.

¡°The standard stereotype would be students who take law or commerce degrees to satisfy family pressures. Then they decide that¡¯s not for them and take something they are more interested?in.¡±

The analysis found that equity graduates progressed into postgraduate courses ¨C master¡¯s degrees in particular ¨C at a comparable rate to their privileged peers. But their enrolments in second bachelor¡¯s degrees were significantly higher, especially among Indigenous students.

Dr Li said it was reassuring that Australia¡¯s system of deferred student loans made such choices viable for even financially disadvantaged people. ¡°The first degree is not totally wasted,¡± he added. ¡°It?would still be of benefit to them in whatever career they chose.¡±

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He said his analysis had reached different conclusions from earlier studies partly because it looked at graduate outcomes after six months ¨C unlike other research, which had used a three-year time frame ¨C and partly because his team had considered employment and further study outcomes in tandem. ¡°That probably led to greater precision in the measurement of employment outcomes,¡± he said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com