Rhea Stevens gives a personal reflection on her time at Oxford.
‘We sometimes have a habit in Wales of talking ourselves down. I will have none of that. The Welsh pupils and students I have met over the course of my study are as bright as any anywhere. Whatever path they choose in life, our job is to equip them to aim for the stars’. These are the words of Paul Murphy, former MP for Torfaen, in his foreword to the Final Report of the Oxbridge Ambassador for Wales, written for the Welsh Government.
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Oxbridge Series This week on Click on Wales we take a look at the Welsh experience of Oxbridge. |
I couldn’t agree more. The role of education is surely to equip people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to ‘aim for the stars’ and achieve whatever they put their mind to.
Where I take issue with the sometimes myopic focus on Oxbridge is the assumption that the stars to aim for are pre-determined: endorsed by prominent alumni who believe that since Oxbridge did great things for them, it’s a useful measure of success for the generations of students that follow. But that’s only part of the story.
Like Paul Murphy, I attended Oriel College, Oxford. I had much of the support available to me that Murphy identifies in his report as helpful for Welsh students. I attended a Comprehensive school with a strong record of students progressing to Oxbridge; had access to teachers who were Oxbridge alumni; parents who were supportive. I am acutely aware that without this support, I would not have applied to Oxford.
I am equally aware that not every student in Wales is as fortunate as I was and this must mean that some, for whom Oxbridge is their personal star to aim for, are not getting the support and opportunities they deserve. For these young people, who actively pursue Oxbridge as an informed choice, Paul Murphy’s hard work is immensely important.
I am just not convinced that the debate is informed. Who decides which ambitions are better than others? Are we taking the time to understand the aspirations and choices of our brightest young people, or are we judging what ambition should look like through our own, sometimes nostalgic, lens?
Some of the commonly articulated barriers for Wales’ low application rate to Oxbridge are low self-esteem and a lack of academic self-confidence. From personal experience, I know that both those factors can still be in place even when young people gain a place at Oxbridge. I also know that Oxbridge was not necessarily the best destination for a bright student who lacked confidence. Factors which build resilience such as pastoral care, social networks, the community surrounding a university weren’t part of the conversation when I was applying. If confidence and low-self-esteem are the root of the problem in Wales, shouldn’t these factors count equally if not more?
Looking back, I wonder what choice I would have made had I questioned the accepted truth that if you are bright enough to go to Oxbridge then you have an obligation to try. If I had been more confident in my views, might I have considered whether a different university with a different culture was the right choice for me? Or whether university was even the right choice at that time? I’ll never know the answer, but I know now it’s a question worth asking and should be part of the conversation.
Aspirations are built from a belief in yourself and the belief of others around you; the two are not mutually exclusive. With that in mind, I am not convinced the popular narrative creates the space for young people to determine their aspirations for themselves. We cannot on one hand decry young people in Wales for lacking self-esteem or confidence, and then on the other continue to assert that we know best, and that is Oxbridge. Is it true that students in Wales have lower aspirations, or is it possible that the state, both public and political, don’t recognise the choices they make as worthy enough? It is surely possible that at least some of the brightest students in Wales are actively deciding that Oxbridge isn’t right for them.
I could understand if we had the same public fascination with the Russell Group, and celebrated the fact that Cardiff University has an international reputation for excellence. Or if we celebrated and created opportunities for our young entrepreneurs and businesspeople with the same zeal. But these equally valuable choices don’t get the same airtime. There are a number of reasons why this is likely to be the case, but at least one of them must be that Oxbridge has powerful and public international alumni who champion their own choices.
It wasn’t until many years after Oxford that I had the confidence to define my own personal aspirations. My instinct tells me I have gained more confidence and belief in the value of my choices from my time beyond the dreaming spires. I am better able to connect my experiences as a barmaid or as a social work assistant as developing the social skills that have driven some of my proudest achievements to date, than I am my time at Oxford. My degree brought me valuable learning and experiences, certainly, but without my wider experiences and the inspirational people I have met outside Oxford I would not have built the confidence to put that learning into practice.
Confidence, aspiration and self-belief are deeply personal, and everyone’s journey towards them will be different. Oxbridge doesn’t have the monopoly on aspiration – and we should stop pretending that it does. It is part of a whole range of options for able students. If we really want the best for our young people, we have to tell the whole story and let them judge for themselves what is best.
Perhaps excellent careers advice would be helpful here. Potential university students deserve to have a better understanding about the options open to them, and the knowledge that enables them to select university courses accoring to a variety of criteria. Alternatively there are many other valid choices, from apprenticeships, or jobs, if they are fortunate to find them, and a wide range of other courses. University need not be the immediate next step after sixth form, and nor need it be a gap year abroad.
But it is important to allow young people to make their own choices based on their own wants.
If we are talking about the cream of the crop, then presumably we are talking about students who will progress beyond their undergraduate learning, to become experts and specialists in their fields.
Students who decide to do this and pursue postgraduate education, will also realise that there are potentially two bites at this Oxbridge cherry if they so wish. Arguably doing postgraduate research at Oxbridge or in places like Cranfield is of more significance than the undergraduate/masters level of learning.
Students in their late teens need more than anything else to live life, have fun, socialise, network and develop their interpersonal skills and learn how to balance these things with their commitment to ltheir studies. We have too many in the professions and in politics who lack basic social skills, because they have been insulated from the real world and from real people or they are told that they are superior to everyone else. The university that they choose on leaving school has to be the right one for developing their personal interests and needs. For the majority, this won’t be Oxbridge, although Oxbridge may be more suitable, when they have matured and want to do more postgraduate research and learning.
All good points Rhea. Thankyou
Aledf makes a very good point here about considering post-graduate as well as undergraduate options. In my case I spent four joyful years doign a DPhil on Choughs (well, somebody has to, and to this day I am known as ‘Chough’ by my Jesus College contemporaries) after a first degree at Liverpool U. The latter gave me the confidence to thrive at the former. The college network means you have two communities (College and course as well as the wider community and this makes a huge difference when it comes to settling down and fitting in. People who went in the other direction told me they had a lonely time without the college community.
So, a full consideration should compare and contrast experiences, expectations and outcomes for both post- and under-grads.