TOPIC RESEARCH

Shows that even young girls are bothered about their appearance and there is a lot of pressure to focus on your education, no matter what else you have going on you are supposed to do 12 hours extra studying per week. Also suggests that maybe appearance isn’t more important than education but socialising could be.

- 1/5th of girls as young as 12 refuse to leave the house without make up on.- Over two-thirds of mothers say they regularly hear their daughters complain about their skin.- 21% of females never wear makeup.- It is recommended that for each subject (At Alevel) you do 4 hours independent study a week (12

hours total) and in exam season it is recommended you do 6 hours a day.- In 1987 37.9% of students spent longer than 16 hours a day socialising instead of studying and

this increased in 2014 to 38.8%. [University of Cali]

In 2013 there were 12 million graduates in the UK. Steady increase in the number of graduates in the UK over the past decade. In April to June 2013 graduates were more likely to be employed than those who left education with qualifications of a lower standard. Non-graduates aged 21 to 30 have consistently higher unemployment rates than all other groups

This shows you are more likely to be hired based on your education as those with just GCSE’s had lower employment rates and higher unemployment/inactivity rates than those with a higher education.

The three images above show that if you want to be in a higher skilled job, where the annual wage is higher, then education is important. If it did not require an education but more simply just your appearance than less people would go to university; 12 million people would not go to university if to get a good, high skilled job it was based on your appearance.[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_337841.pdf]

If you want a job, you've already got an advantage if you have a degree- 89.9% of graduates either go on to employment or further study. (2010 data)[http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jul/15/employment-statistics-university-graduates]

Any simple reading of the ONS report makes clear that young people with degrees are better off than their counterparts. It notes ‘non-graduates aged 21-30 have consistently higher unemployment rates than all other groups.’ Conversely, graduates are more likely to earn more, more likely to work in the most highly-skilled jobs and will see their wage rise more quickly than their non-graduate counterparts.A degree will not excuse stuttering through an interview, it will not correct spelling mistakes on a CV and it doesn’t individualise the generic ‘I have a 2:1 and worked the summer at my Dad’s place’ cover letter.A degree is proof you wanted to learn, can learn and will keep learning. It should show your mind has been stretched and twisted, contradicted and challenged, moulded and remoulded.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-life/10473143/Degrees-do-not-guarantee-jobs-people-do.html]

The above extract shows that although a degree does put you in a better for gaining employment, the way you present yourself and your CV is also a key part in getting a job.

As we can see from the above news articles, although education may be important when getting a job, the educational facilities seem to care more about their student’s appearance than providing them with an education no matter how they look. Instead of allowing students to learn they make them miss days of school for the way there hair is cut or for wearing a jumper indoors!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/school-sends-up-100-pupils-9986413

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3220537/Boy-11-sent-home-day-secondary-school-severe-haircut-insists-styled-favourite-footballer-Sergio-Aguero.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2821999/School-sends-home-152-pupils-one-day-wore-incorrect-uniform.html

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/news/a44991/bad-dress-code-policy-season-is-upon-us/

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Students-sent-home-school-wearing-wrong-clothes/story-27735713-detail/story.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/a-student-body-president-was-threatened-with-suspension-for#.mqqX972Ld7

How does this research help our documentary?

This research shows us that even though having a degree is important for many employers, the way you present yourself is also important. It also shows that in schools/colleges appearance/ looking right/ wearing the right things is essential or it means getting sent home and missing a day (at least) of education. This shows us that there is place for debate so there will be people who hold different views on what is more important; education or appearance.

It shows us that we will probably get a variety of opinions in our vox pops and because there is no 100% agreement that one is more important than the other it will enable us to get experts who are on either end of the argument.

It will enable us to include some facts and statistics which will in turn help our narrative as it will help us to provide an answer to the question/topic of our documentary.

The research found will directly influence our target audience as they will be in school or in college and quite possibly making the decision on whether or not to go to university, so this research enables us to relate to and engage with our target audience of primarily females aged between 14 and 18. The fact that our research also shows that a lot of students sent home for their appearances are females will also engage with our target audience as it primarily focuses on them but does also include males.