Unleashing Aspiration: 'Journalist of the future comes from best off families'

The typical journalist of the future will today be growing up in a family better off than 3 in 4 of all families in the UK.
That is one of the findings of the Unleashing Aspiration - The Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions report published today.
The report says a typical professional born in 1958 came from a family that earned 17% more than the average family income; but by 1970 the family income gap between those who went on to pursue a professional career and the average family had risen to 27% with journalism – along with accountancy – seeing the biggest shift to more social exclusivity.
It says that " Some 98% of entrants in journalism have a degree or post-graduate qualification. Less than 10% of those entering journalism have worked their way up through non-graduate, vocational, working class background."
It predicts that up to 9 in 10 new jobs in the future will be professional jobs.
The report's other findings include:
* Tomorrow’s professional is growing up in a family that is better off than 7 out of 10 families in Britain.
* The typical doctor or lawyer of the future will today be growing up in a family better off than 5 in 6 of all families in the UK.
* The typical engineer or teacher of the future will today be growing up in a family better off than 2 in 3 of all families in the future.
* Over half of professional occupations such as law and finance are currently dominated by people from independent schools which are attended by just 7% of the population. 75% of judges and 45% of top civil servants were independently schooled.
* The Report makes 88 recommendations to government, the professions, charities and others. They include:
Social Mobility
* Social mobility to be the top social policy priority for this and any future government.
* A new expert social mobility commission to advise government, professions, employers and other public bodies and oversee progress made.
Aspirations
* Role models to inspire young people through a high profile ‘Yes you can’ campaign backed by a volunteer network of student and young professional mentors.
* Universities to offer modular degrees and part time students to get loans.
* Fee-free higher education for students staying at home and studying at their local university, especially mature people with families.
* Supporting all universities to take into account the educational and social context of pupils’ achievement in their admissions processes.
* New partnerships between universities and local schools and professions.
Internships, the report calls for:
* Fair rules for internships through a nationally agreed Internships Code between government, employers, professions and unions.
* Internships openly advertised through a new website.
* A kite-mark for identifying high quality internships.
* Support for internships through means tested micro-loans and private finance. * All professions to undertake reviews of fair access in their professions, reporting back to Government by 2012.
Recruitment:
* Each profession to establish clear progression routes from vocational training – including introducing apprenticeship schemes – to allow more non-graduates to start out in a professional career.