I always wanted to be a pilot but being of indian (via east africa) descent, it was extremely difficult to ask my dad, who came to this country with nothing, to mortgage the house he has worked so hard for to just blow it on a training course with no guarantees in the future and to add insult to injury, just when i thought i saved enough of my own money to go ahead, i found out i had a congenital eye problem which rules me out of getting a class 1 licence.
Instread i am now a very satisfied civil servant working my socks off to save every penny for my future children's private education fund (it makes a big difference!)
Coming back to the original question, i think it is a fact that most ethnic origin brits are kids of people who came for a better life and jobs like being a pilot with large up front costs are definately a huge barrier. I was always brought up to make sure that i have money tucked away for a rainy day.
Having a large bank balance makes a big difference in life and i would challenge anyone who states that it does not.