UK Public Schoolgirls

[TwilightDawn]

Are you a former UK public schoolgirl? What careers do MOST UK public schoolgirls go into and do MOST of them actually progress far on the career ladders? I am aware that the majority of people in top positions in the UK are former public schoolboys (old Etonians etc.) but what happens to former public schoolgirls? I don't mean the relative few who somehow get into top positions (they as women still have a fight on their hands) but what about the majority?

I went to a bog standard comprehensive school and university. I took a few years out working before uni to build up savings. During this time I worked for various govt. departments and found that some of the typists, secretaries and lower (entry) level administrators were women who had been public school educated and had been in these jobs for years if not the whole of their careers. Some of them went to top public schools. This came as a surprise to me. I hadn't imagined that women with this background would be working side by side with me and earning the same peanuts which the Civil Service refers to as a salary.

I now work for the NHS as a nurse. Back in my student nurse days, some of my cohort were former public schoolgirls also. The last I heard, most of them were still band 5 nurses whereas I have progressed to senior management level. AIBU to wonder whether the potential future benefits of a public school education actually manifest for the majority of former public schoolgirls?

Just to clarify, I am using the English definition of "public school" i.e. fee-paying, private, exclusive school.

There obviously isn't one thing that 'most' end up doing...just like with any other school.

I'm a manager at a FTSE100, some of my peers have started their own businesses, some went into consultancy, some are midwives, nurses and physios, some are doctors, some are primary and secondary school teachers, some are in PR and advertising....the list goes on

@FTM1

So they basically go into careers that are open to most people ...... so are there any actual career advantages of a public school education for girls?

Meh didn't do me much good, been stuck in the same admin job at a university for nearly 15 years now and am only earning £25k. TBH that says more about me and my own situation/choices than it does about the school though, I could've been earning a fortune e.g. as a solicitor if I'd chosen that path.

Not a particularly fancy school, just a fee-paying one in the North West that you'll never have heard of.

Fairly sure that there are fewer female public school graduates in top positions because they're female. Can't believe I'm the only one who hasn't had the time or mental energy to progress my career due to becoming a mother. Not something that the vast majority of fathers seem to struggle with, though - probably because their wife is dealing with most of the parenting and 'life admin' that comes along with having children, whether or not she's a SAHM.

I don’t think that question has a yes/no answer? Of my group There are: author, MP, small business owner, academic, multiple medics, vets, farmer, fashion journalist and several housewives married to relatively rich men. Arguably all open to anyone but some of those careers traditionally harder to access from less privileged backgrounds.

Law, civil service, medicine, finance, arts, events, PR, media and advertising, SAHM, yoga instructor, set up own business...

I’m a nanny but I went to Norland if that helps. Doubly posh

If you’d been a lawyer you would have said the same.

I went to a GDST school, read economics at university and have worked in investment banking ever since, reaching a senior level (6 figures) in my 30's. When I started in my 20's the industry was rife with public school boys and a private education was pretty much a pre-requisite, although this is (slowly) changing.

At the school reunion I went to a few years back, there were a combination of lawyers/bankers/accountants/teachers/doctors, as well as entrepreneurs and SAHM's.

DD (and DS) are also at private school, but I do this for far more than just their future earning capacity, I do it to give them opportunities. They have access to great teaching of course, but also the chance to take part in huge varieties of sports, (water polo & martial arts alongside traditional netball/hockey/rugby/cricket), fantastic music/drama/arts facilities and strong pastoral care, which is developing strong self confidence/esteem. I want them to be happy and fulfilled as adults, ahead of high earning.

Oh course there are benefits to public schools! For example, my child both have SEN. By giving them access to better support and smaller class sizes hopefully they will be able to have a job like their peers. But also, be confident well rounded people. I would say that public school will give them a fighting chance of a more level playing field when it comes to getting a ‘normal’ job.

People put their children through public school for many reasons; it’s not always about securing a top job. For many, it’s a case of a better suited environment so they can reach their potential.

The girls I know who went to public schools have generally done no better than any who went to state schools, in fact some are in pretty low level jobs. I don’t know anyone in any great positions of power. That said, I did grow up in an area with very good state schools!

I would have thought that what they did afterwards would be the defining piece on this. If they went on to a top university, they might end up in a different situation than if they chose a finishing school for example.

I went to a private school, not in the UK. I would say half the women in my class have gone on to have stellar, high flying careers with multiple degrees, and the other half just have normal jobs. So I think it does have a benefit as 50% of women in society in general don't have such outstanding careers.
I am a housewife at the moment. Might not be that way forever. But I suspect being well educated/ spoken/ travelled has helped me attract a husband who is the same and earns well. Therefore it has benefitted me, but perhaps not career-wise.

I only know one and she became a primary school teacher.

My daughters and I are London lawyers. My school friends do different things - one is on the rich list, another owns what was her father's farm, another owns a small business. My daughters' school friends are all kinds of things - lawyers, doctors, one is a pilot.

[Actually the public schools are not the same as all private schools. So I went to a day fee paying private school for girls (I am a lawyer). My older son went a day public school (HMC school).

One of my daughters went to North London Collegiate which is a Girls' Schools Association school and is public (is a private day fee paying girls' school) (lawyer). My other lawyer daughter went to day girls' school - fee paying whch is not a GSA school so is not a "public school" under the usual definition. My younger sons went to a day all boys fee paying private school which is not HMC so is not a "public school". ]

Public school girl here - oxbridge, MBA, high flying business career. See my classmates pretty regularly - lots of great jobs. Lawyers, architects, academics, doctors, businesswomen, actresses, TV people, accountants etc etc.

None of these are careers they couldn’t have accessed from state school, and I don’t think the old school tie is that big a thing for girls, but all benefited from quality education, smaller classes etc. So am sure it did something for us all.

Most important thing actually was that it was single sex. Meant we did a much broader set of subjects and activities and were much more used to being leaders than if it had been coed.

@BreakfastOfWaffles

I would have thought that what they did afterwards would be the defining piece on this. If they went on to a top university, they might end up in a different situation than if they chose a finishing school for example.

This.

I went to a state school and then did law.

My dd goes to a private school but my main motivation for sending her there was not to improve her job prospects - it was because I knew it was a much better environment for her than the state schools available to us in our area.

I went to public school but plenty in my professional career didn’t. I know classmates doing a whole range of jobs from working for the Prime Minister to not working at all.

For me the advantage was that the school gave me confidence to progress.

This is a somewhat ridiculous question. If you look at the statistics girls who go to independent schools tend to have better educational outcomes and career progression. That doesn't mean it happens in all cases and arguably those from families who can afford and choose private education would be more likely to succeed anyway. In any case anecdotal descriptions will always just reflect the bias of the person responding (someone who hates public schools will describe the public school girl who dropped out and lives on the streets now. The person who is sending their kids to public school because they think they're great will list all the high flyers).

I went to a non exclusive independent girls school and from my year group the majority of girls (of the 70 in my year I know of about 50 from social media) in professional careers (doctors, lawyers, city workers, , teachers, managers etc). There are also a minority who never found their feet professionally and others who chose not to pursue a career either for family reasons or to so something completely unconventional.

I have four degrees and am now a lawyer.

You aren’t seeing where most public school girls end up. You’re seeing which of the people in your immediate environment were public schoolgirls. Not the same thing. The reality will be a big range, from top jobs to more entry level positions.

Of course, public schoolgirls are also subject to the glass ceiling. A public education doesn’t protect you from that.

Defence, investment banking, politics, academia for the high achieving set. Some started their own companies, a lot of doctors, vets and lawyers. Then a few who went to finishing school and married well. It sounds like the women you reference finished school a long time ago, so there were different limitations on women’s careers.

There are certain mannerisms that carry from public school, and it’s nice to get the added push from someone who recognises that when setting up business deals etc. The good old boy system benefits women too, or at least it has for me.

Come on, OP you are talking about anecdata. Your personal experience of ex public school pupils is a very narrow sample and I would argue hardly typical

I went to private school and an RG university and now run my own dog-walking business.

I never had any interest in a high-flying career.

My public school split into 2 types, I’m director level, most others went on to the variety of jobs open to anyone.

The second type either run “mummy” businesses (dicking about with food and ribbons) to pretend they were working or were honest they married a rich man and have never actually done a stroke of work in their lives. Generally if divorced have rinsed the rich man and moved onto another one. There is a whole industry of rich husband upgrades going on at the private schools their kids are now in.

Not that I’m judgemental of the second type at all

A lot of my cohort seem to have gone on to marry rich men and don’t work. Those who do work seem to be in a normal range of jobs, teachers, PR (a lot in PR actually), doctors etc. I don’t think any of them have had the advantage of public school in the same way as men and the ‘old boy network’.

Oxbridge. Then city solicitor.
Others in my cohort - doctors, publishers, scientists, surveyors, journalists, some started businesses. Many are now juggling work and parenthood, in varying degrees of full time/part time roles. None of those that I've stayed in touch with are SAHMs.