Madam, - Seán Flynn paints a rosy picture of the comfortable lives that lie ahead for Irish university students as indicated by the Ireland Graduate Survey ("Final-year students looking forward to life of milk and honey", Education Today, May 8th).
While Mr Flynn does mention the lack of cultural and racial mix at third level - 96 per cent of students are white - he fails to place the overall results of the research commissioned by The Irish Times within the greater context of access to higher education. Educational outcomes occur within economically and socially constructed settings, so it is little surprise that the students in question are "hugely confident they have the academic and personal skills to do well in the future".
Despite the best efforts of the Higher Education Authority, of organisations such as Ahead, and of the individual access programmes now offered by virtually all Irish universities, a real challenge is posed by the under-representation of non-traditional participants such as mature students, those from low-income backgrounds, those from minority ethnic groups, or those with disabilities. Participation in higher education has increased in Ireland, yet the gap of inequality within the system is as wide as ever.
A school-leaver from the Dublin 14 postal district is seven times more likely to enrol in third-level education than his or her counterpart from Dublin 10. When students from continually disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds attend university, it doesn't tend to be for the "dizzying array of travel and lifestyle options". - Yours, etc,
RUTH GALLAGHER, Glenbeigh Road, Dublin 7.