Inequalities in Access to Professional Occupations

Catherine Dilnot (), Lindsey Macmillan () and Claire Tyler ()
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Catherine Dilnot: Oxford Brookes Business School
Lindsey Macmillan: UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities
Claire Tyler: UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities

No 25-01, CEPEO Working Paper Series from UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities

Abstract: Previous research has shown that disadvantaged young people are less likely to work in professional occupations than their advantaged peers, even when they have achieved the same level of education. Yet until now little has been known about the reasons for this - are they applying for professional entry-level roles and not being hired, or are they not applying in the first place? Using unique recruitment data from 17 large employers' entry programmes, we answer this question for the first time. We find that applicants from lower socio-economic and ethnic minority groups are well represented among the applicant pool, but disproportionately do not receive job offers, even when considering similar applicants. While much of the gap can be explained by prior attainment, there are still large socio-economic gaps in offer rates within university groups. Women are typically underrepresented in the applicant pool across entry routes but are more likely to achieve a job offer than otherwise similar men, among those who do apply.

Keywords: social mobility; inequalities; occupations; applications; job offers; gender; ethnicity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J15 J16 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 98 pages
Date: 2025-03, Revised 2025-03
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