a sense of agency, personal responsibility, and the ability to stick to a task and its
correlation with an individual's wellbeing and success. He has raised the policy
implications of evidence that individuals from underprivileged backgrounds are less
likely to develop 'character' skills than their more affluent peers, and the prospects for
redressing these inequalities. The information in these reports and talks provides a major
contextual setting with which to explore the formation of character in 14 -16 year olds.
The area where this research project on values and dispositions of character took place is
in East Birmingham and bordered on the north of the M6 corridor. The area is diverse
including a predominantly Asian inner-city area and a mostly white area on the city's
eastern boundary. The neighbourhood is surrounded by major trunk roads and is often
characterised as feeling like an island. There is a mix of modern housing and light
industrial businesses. There is no strong all-inclusive sense of community, and population
mobility is high. There are also few amenities for the inhabitants. The area is one of the
most deprived in the West Midlands with high levels of social and economic deprivation.
Rates of educational attainment at all age levels are below the average for the city of
Birmingham and are well below the national average.
Despite the lack of amenities and services and the disparate nature of the population,
small pockets of strong communities do exist, particularly in the well-established Asian
community. Young people in the Asian districts are generally optimistic about their
futures, and there is no collective sense that they might be held back by their location.
Parents here are ambitious and optimistic about their children’s futures. Their aspirations
for their children are often centred on responsibility to the family. Parents’ aspirations for
their sons tend to revolve around jobs that would allow them to financially support their
families. Fathers perceive themselves to be strong influences, and the local Mosque
provides educational support for the local community (Cabinet Study, 2008).
Our report should be read in conjunction with Young Participation in Higher Education
(Hodge Hill) which was commissioned by HEFCE and undertaken by researchers from
the School of Education in the University of Birmingham in 2006. It can be obtained from
the HEFCE website and the authors of this report were Sandra Cooke, Patricia Mannion
and Paul Warmington.
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