Higher Education Equity Literature Database

  • Choosing University: The Impact of Schools and Schooling: Final Report to the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education

    Date: 2014

    Author: Gore, J.; Holmes, K.; Smith, M.; Lyell, A.; Ellis, H.; Gray, L.

    Location: Australia

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    Project description:
    This project worked with data collected from 15 NSW government secondary schools located in low socioeconomic areas to identify factors connected to schools and schooling that impact on students' aspirations to attend university. The students who participated in the study were primarily from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. The project set out to examine the data for:
    - Patterns identifiable in the complex relationships between student background and their aspirations for university;
    - Enabling and constraining conditions related to aspirations to participate in higher education that schools have some control over; and
    - The extent to which and ways in which schools support students' aspirations for university.
    The project objectives were to draw on the findings of the project to illuminate possibilities for improvements for the participation and success of low SES students, and other groups of student who are typically less likely to go on to study in higher education.
    Conceptual and/or methodological framework:
    This project employed a mixed methods research design to provide a detailed analysis of factors that impact upon low SES Year 11 students' decisions to attend university or not, with a particular emphasis on the impact of schools and schooling. Firstly, the research team drew on survey data collected from the Aspirations Longitudinal Study , which had already collected three years' of survey data with these participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 62 Year 11 students, 15 school principals, 18 parents, 31 Year 11 teachers and 13 high school careers advisers. In addition, students were conducted with 25 university students who had previously attended one of the 15 participating schools, and four detailed case studies of participating schools.
    Key findings:
    The key findings of the project are:
    On choosing university
    1. Just over 40%, of the participating students intended to go to university (more females than males; less low SES than high SES; more high prior achievers than low prior achievers), and 32% planned to go in the year immediately after school;
    2. 21% of students were unsure of their educational intentions; the rest planned to complete Year 12 at either school or TAFE;
    3. Students' decisions to go to university appear to be connected to the perception that travel could be a potential barrier. The students who aspired to go to university were more likely to identify such barriers and this could possibly indicate their stronger intention to transition into higher education;
    4. Students who aspired to university were more likely to seek information about career and study options from a broad range of sources (such as family and friends, use of the internet, attending careers expos, and receiving information from educational institutions) than non-university aspirants; and
    In all analyses, Aboriginality and school location (metropolitan/provincial) did not appear to impact on aspirations to higher education

  • Chronicling engagement: students' experience of online learning over time

    Date: 2019

    Author: Muir, T.; Milthorpe, N.; Stone, C.; Dyment, J.; Freeman, E.; Hopwood, B.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: Despite extensive research into student engagement in online learning, most research investigates the student experience through surveys administered at a fixed point in time, usually at the exit point of a single unit of study or course.
    Aim: To explore and describe online student engagement over a whole semester, by presenting on results from the weekly feedback on online education students' engagement at a regional Australian university. The study s guided by two overarching questions: i) What factors impact students' engagement over a semester? Ii)What factors account for fluctuation in engagement levels over time?
    Theoretical frame: Not specified in study.
    Methodology: Interpretive qualitative approach; Prospective longitudinal method (Cohen et al., 2011); Data collection methods: Online questionnaire (weekly, administered via SurveyMonkey); Semi-structured interviews (8 interviews with each student - 1 pre-semester; 6 fortnightly during semester; 1 post-semester); Participants: Third or fourth year students from the School of Education at a regional Australian university (n=9); Sampling strategy: Purposeful sampling (Creswell, 2012); Data analysis: Thematic analysis (with inductive & deductive coding).
    Findings: 1)Students' engagement levels - Lowest levels of engagement recorded in Week 1 (2 students were equally engaged in all units, 5 responded negatively); Second lowest levels of engagement recorded in Weeks 4,5,7,8,9 (level 6); Highest levels of engagement recorded in Weeks 2 & 6 (both weeks followed a break); 2)Factors influencing engagement: Primary factors - assessment tasks (12 comments), unit/s workload (4), relevance (2), lecturer input (1); Other factors - lecturer presence; work/life commitments; nature of units; 3)Case study - Angela: Self-identified as 'proactive & a high achiever' (p. 269); Completed 5 surveys (Weeks 1,3,5,6,9); Manages part-time study & work at the school education sector; Report - Week 1: Engagement level of 0; Week 6: Engagement level of 8; Week 9: Engagement level of 6; First interview (pre-semester) - Discussed increased workload for upcoming semester (2 instead of 3 units), acknowledged need for increased self-discipline as an online student "the onus is a great deal more on you to be responsible" (p. 270), view learning as a "reciprocal relationship" (p. 270) and appreciated good planning for online learning by the teaching staff member; Second interview (Week 2) - "overwhelmed" by increased study load (p. 270); key theme: teacher presence & behaviour; engagement was encouraged by "catchy, interactive" (p.270) and hands-on learning activities; theory-based reading was difficult; discussion boards were perceived as "superficial", and not "thought provoking" (p. 270); Third interview (Week 4) - Angela's attention was 'unbalanced' (p. 271) due to varying workloads in different units; key theme - readings (study schedule dominated by "long, laborious readings", but were disengaging, especially if using technical "jargon") (p. 271); Fourth interview (Week 6) - more "anxious", frequent comments on 'asynchronous flexibility' with value placed on 'freedom to move at own pace' and to "zoom ahead" or take study breaks when needed (p. 271); Sixth & seventh interviews (Weeks 9 & 11) - dwelled on issue of 'asynchronous flexibility'- ability to 'fit study around life commitments' and the frustrations that arise when not able to do so; Post-semester interview - Summary of key points of discussion: Ambivalence on discussion boards, importance of having materials & content available from the beginning of the semester; dissatisfaction with temporal restraints, considered as her 'biggest gripe' (p. 272).
    Core argument: Results from the study offers an important reminder on the significance of 'planning, design & teacher presence' to successfully engage the online learner, consequently improving educational outcomes for online students, including their retention and completion times.
    Recommendations: 1) Providing full access to learning materials from the start of the semester; 2) Clearly map & logically sequence units; 3) Lecturers & instructors should regularly respond to all students at least once a week; 4) Avoid imposing a time-limit on compulsory activities.

  • Classification' and 'Judgement': Social Class and the 'Cognitive Structures' of Choice of Higher Education

    Date: 2002

    Author: Ball, S.; Davies, J.; David, M.; Reay, D.

    Location: United Kingdom

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    Context: Considers the social dimensions of students' choices (aka decision-making) and status perceptions with regard to access to English HE. Argument drawn from data collected from ESRC-funded project on choice in HE. Choice = immensely complex interplay of different factors: "cultural and social capital, material constraints (see Reay, 2000) social perceptions and distinctions, and forms of self-exclusion (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990) are all at work in the processes of choice" (p.54).
    Aim: To propose a 'sociology of choice' in relation to HE. Seeks to develop understanding of "how such decision-making is exercised differently and works differently for different groups of young people" (p.56)
    Theoretical frame: Bourdieu's notions of 'classification' and 'judgement': "It is in the empirical examination of the relationships between classifiable practices and classificatory judgements in particular 'fields' that
    'habitus', as a 'generative formula', fleetingly comes 'into view'" (p.53); Beck (1993) - self-reflexive biographies; social conflict theorists. Authors note that structures are significant in offering opportunities and constraints for students' choices, but also go beyond a structural analysis by acknowledging individual agency across different 'opportunity structures' (Roberts, 1993)
    Methodology: Draws from mixed-methods large scale project on choice and HE. Quant= survey data; qual = focus group, observations, interview data. Labelled as a 'numbers and narratives methodology' (ref to Nash, 1999) on p.54
    Findings: HE choice takes place in two registers: cognitive/ performative and social/cultural. In some ways, choice of university = lifestyle and matter of taste and social class = important factor. Authors = keen to make it clear that class patterns = not true for all; not all working class students go to new unis. Authors note Bourdieu & Passeron's argument that not going to university for working class students can be considered a 'non-decision' because it is so normalised. However, as HE access/ participation becomes more democratised, stratification and differentiation of completion/ retention rates become more significant in relation to social differentiation (see p.54). Work of authors suggests that social class = major determinant of school choice and GCSE attainment, and that GCSE attainment = significant driver for choosing HE courses.
    Data offers support for the notion of 'pragmatically radical decision-making' (Hodkinson & Sparkes, 1997) = resocialising of rational within choice. Vignettes on p.56 illustrate differentiated factors driving students' choices. Authors draw on work of Du Bois-Raymond's notion of 'normal biography' ("linear, anticipated and predictable,
    unreflexive transitions, often gender and class specific, rooted in well-established lifeworlds", p.57; also = 'absence of decisions'; fish in water- Bourdieu, 1990). Decision-making for middle classes = which university? (aka not should I go to university?). Working class/ ethnically diverse students = 'choice biography' = reflect on options and make justified decision, which is often related to getting 'a good job'. This doesn't apply to FE/ mature/ private students who made decisions more based on subject interests/ personal or intellectual interests.
    Choice = driven by the 'school effect' (aka institutional habitus) - discussion of institutional decision-making drivers on p.58. Predictable patterns evident from survey data about high status schools choosing higher status universities etc. (less than 2% of private school students chose 'new' uni as 1st choice). Path analysis = suggests career is also significant motive. Students more motivated by seeing themselves represented (e.g. ethnic/ cultural mix) = more likely to cite home/ family as important and least likely to apply to high status unis. Analysis of school subjects by class of school = significant. State schools = drama/ social sciences/ education = popular but not for independent schools, where traditional humanities and science are more popular: "In as much that degrees are related to jobs, demarcations between state and private professions are likely to be reproduced" (p.60).
    Analysis of perceptions of institutional status = interesting results. Top four high status universities = recognized by most students (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge) but less so for other universities, with private school girls most accurate; community school students = least accurate.
    Analysis of why students rejected particular institutions = connected to advertising (particularly if the institution is perceived to be 'pleading' for enrolments), portrayals of student life/ social reputation, not a place 'for people like us' (see p.67-8)
    Core argument: Choice about HE = complex, differentiated and stratified along class lines: "Different kinds of practical knowledge are at work in choice-making. Knowledge about and use of status hierarchies and reputations is uneven and varies systematically between schools and families" (p.69). Self-exclusion as a choice = evident and significant, particularly for students with 'choice biographies' (see Beck, 1992): "The risks and reflexivity of the middle classes are about staying as they are and who they are. Those of the working classes are about being different people in different places, about who they might become and what they must give up" (p.69).
    In context of seeking to better understand WP, access has to understood as part of process of decision-making activities: "The distribution of classes and minority ethnic groups within HE and across HE institutions has to be understood as the outcome of several stages of decision-making in which choices and constraints or barriers inter-weave. Many students, especially working-class students, never get to a position where they can contemplate HE" (p.70).

  • Closing Pathways: Refugee-Background Students and Tertiary Education

    Date: 2011

    Author: O'Rourke, D.

    Location: New Zealand

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    Context: Refugee community in NZ accessing HE
    Aim: How do new policies effect the range of existing barriers that refugees pursuing degrees in HE face? How will these policies exacerbate the closing of pathways for this particular group to access HE?
    Conclusions: 1) A range of policies introduced in NZ have restricted pathways for refugees to access HE: including termination of refugee study grants, reduced funding for specialist education and refugee services across the HE system; caps and reductions in places for university and enabling programs. The authors argue that whilst other disadvantaged groups like Maori, disability, LSES are safeguarded from such restrictions through built in safeguards that are scaffolded to support these students to access university, refugee students are not identified as an equity group; 2) Refugees identify that they feel like they do not belong at university (which will be exacerbated with reduced pathway). Refugees may spend a lot of time trying to fit in on campus, which will take away from their studies. Broadly, a lack of belonging reduces investment in the HE process and may cause failure and attrition.
    Core argument: Posits an argument that refugees should be considered an equity group, given the specific forms of disadvantage they may face. If not, these groups may be disadvantaged in a HE system that is turning toward restricting access, generally (through fees, funding, caps on places, higher entry conditions, etc.). Significantly, this paper outlines strategies to create equity for refugee-background students, and views that 'refugee-background students are a resource' (55). Equity policies need to take into consideration the systemic disadvantage that can structure the refugee experience in HE.

  • Closing the Policy-Practice Gap for Low-SES Students in Higher Education: The Pedagogical Challenge

    Date: 2013

    Author: Thomas, G.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: Set against post-Bradley context (HEPPP focus on low SES) in Australian higher education. Scopes literature on low SES students (unfamiliarity, less well resourced, lower perceptions of value of higher education) - examines notion that universities have communicated 'it's not for you' message to low SES communities: "The fact that higher education has failed in the past to value these contributions potentially explains why many students from low-SES backgrounds have not had aspirations for higher-education study" (p.809) - problems with pedagogy (e.g. lecture/ authority of lecturer). Lack of whole-of-institution responses.
    Aim: To "explore the strategies being used in 12 Australian universities to improve the recruitment, retention
    and teaching of students from under-represented groups, particularly those from low-SES backgrounds" (p.807). Questions designed to answer:
    (a) what strategies or processes were used to attract and retain low-SES and regional/rural students?
    (b) were academics well positioned or prepared for more enrolments of students from under-represented groups?
    (c) what initiatives were needed to support the needs of students (from under-represented groups) if their enrolments increased in the future? (p.810)
    Methodology: Naturalistic inquiry approach; semi-structured interviews with 19 teachers and 5 leaders (directors of teaching and learning invited, but most referred Thomas on to colleagues in equity or academics in CTLs) from 12 Australian regional universities (7 worked with pathway programs, 7 worked in teaching and learning centres, 2 were Directors of the Equity Office and 8 were discipline academics/researchers). Data also
    Findings: Organised around 4 themes: exemplary initiatives, promising teaching and learning strategies, under-valued expertise, deficit thinking.
    Exemplary initiatives: 1) most HEPPP-funded projects focus on raising students' aspirations in schools; 2) providing alternative entry pathways; 3) retention strategies via centralised student services + mentoring programs
    Promising teaching and learning strategies: no articulation of a coherent, university-wide strategy addressing the teaching and learning challenges and opportunities of a more socially diverse cohort (p.812) = uncoordinated approach. Universal Design for Learning discussed for socially inclusive pedagogies: "What this does is shift the burden of being flexible and responsive from the student to the curriculum and its designers" (p.813) - discussion of internationalisation of curriculum; same needs to done for low SES students - needs 'funds of knowledge' approach.
    Undervalued expertise: pathways teachers "appeared to be undervalued or marginalised within the university system. They tended to work on a casual or part-time basis and the funding mechanisms for the programmes created uncertainty about their long-term employment. For the staff in more permanent positions, most were not actively conducting research, they carried very high teaching loads and some reported a lack of confidence in the value of their voice" (p.815). Also staff lack confidence and only tacit understandings of aspects of their teaching experience that contributes to the effectiveness of their programs.
    Deficit thinking: Most initiatives based on view of low SES students lacking skills, thinking, experience or resources and programs = designed to offset these deficits. Danger = deficit thinking makes disadvantage worse: "Even forward-thinking policies and initiatives will falter if the intended beneficiaries (the students from low-SES backgrounds) are blamed by the academics teaching them for the difficulties these students encounter" (p.815).
    Need to reconsider and reframe so diversity is seen as a benefit and so that support for learning and studies is embedded in the curriculum, rather than outside or in centralized spaces + better staff training.
    Core argument: There is "little evidence of any theoretically sound, coherent or comprehensive plan to address the challenges and opportunities created by increased percentages of students from low-SES backgrounds" (p.818), but there are pockets of excellent practice

  • COAG’s 2019 Review of NAPLAN

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    Our submission to the Education Council of Australia - Government review of the current approach to the presentation of the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data. Included in the submission is a series of five recommendations that are purposed with aiding in the redesign of a national assessment and reporting system for Australian schools. 


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  • Cohesion, coherence and connectedness: The 3C model of enabling-course design to support student transition to university.

    Date: 2014

    Author: Sharp, S.; O'Rourke, J.; Lane, J.; Hays, A-M.

    Location: Australia

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    Aims: Paper reports the redevelopment of the University Preparation Course at ECU. The evaluation focused on the 'development and implementation of strategies to inspire, retain and assist UPC students to complete the course and pursue appropriate pathways for further study'. The redevelopment utilised transition pedagogy and aimed to 'develop and deliver a cohesive, coherent and connected program to support student transition to tertiary study' (3C model). A mixed methods study was conducted to measure the impact of the implementation of a 3C model of enabling course design.
    Background: Details importance of enabling in transitioning non traditional students to HE. Refers to Bradley review and to the 2014 Federal government budget report which changed the unemployment benefits scheme to being an "earn or learn" policy. The paper foreshadows that this change may impact the demand for access to HE.
    University Preparation Course (UPC) provides alternative entry for students from diverse educational, social, cultural and economic backgrounds. Program focuses on school leavers and mature age students. Over 1000 students per year graduate from the UPC annually and a large proportion transition to UG 80-82 %).
    UPC is a one semester full time course that consists of 5 units. 3 units are compulsory.
    UPC curriculum focusses on a 'learning journey' (central to UG ECU curriculum design) which incorporates university wide developmental and cohesive approaches to learning, teaching and assessment. The approach also integrates elements of first year transition pedagogy featuring 'institutional integration, coordination and coherence and an intentionally designed' curricula which aims to accommodate the needs of diverse cohorts and facilitate increased retention.
    Procedure: Mixed methods utilising online student survey (n=450) and semi structured interviews with staff. Course analytics relating to retention and teaching evaluations were also used.
    Findings: The UPC had a relatively high rate of transitions to UG (80-82%) generally during the period. Student evaluations showed higher than average student satisfaction during the period. Student surveys indicated that the UPC increased student confidence, reduced anxiety, improved study techniques, implemented deeper learning strategies. Cohesion, coherence and connectedness were also found to be important aspects underpinning successful transitions. These aspects guided the leadership and course design of the UPC and the study indicated that 'building a collaborative course culture based on a 3C model of cohesion, coherence and connectedness, which used interdependently, improves students' confidence, skills and knowledge in their transition to undergraduate tertiary study'.

  • Colonial time in tension: Decolonizing temporal imaginaries

    Date: 2017

    Author: Akbari-Dibavar, A.; Emiljanowicz, P.

    Location: Canada

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    Context: Colonial time = "fractured, uneven, and co-constituted by tension" (abstract) in Iran's prison system. Argues that prison functions to colonise time "to erase, homogenize, and mediate past, present, and future - thereby reproducing ideational- material governance" (abstract). Colonial time is defined as "attempted colonization and mediated mapping of the past, present, and future by states/elites" (p.1). Authors argue that colonial time also "nurtures the conditions for its own subversion" (p.2) - coercive violence and instruments of temporal control = alternatives do exist that permit transformation and disruption/rejection of dominant ideas about time.
    Aim: To examine notion of colonial time in context of implementation into Iran's prison system (post-revolution).
    Theoretical frame: Colonial time = "fractured process by which governing powers/elites attempt to colonize the past, present, and future by imposing temporal regimes through things like task orientation regulation (wage work), public monuments, media censorship, and prison systems" (p.3). Colonial [dominant] time = "based on the attempt to manipulate and project a mediated temporal imaginary" (p.3). Draws on Foucault's (1977) discussion of 'time sense' (time regimes imposed by states; internalized by individuals). Sociocultural notions of time = create/illuminate spaces of decolonised [marginal] time senses. Also draws on contradictory work by Pickering (2004) with Lakota people. Pickering's work, "locates the struggle over time within material and social-cultural contexts where temporal regimes attempt to impose a regulated form of task orientation" (p.4), thus resisting the Foucauldian idea that time sense is internalised.
    Methodology: Essay
    Discussion: Memory is significant to time (individual and social/collective remembering and forgetting) contributes to the hegemony of colonial time - power is sustained through temporal governance and production (of knowledge), which need temporal regulation.
    Discussion of Iran as authoritarian state: "By selectively mediating the past - specifically the violence of the consolidation of the post-revolutionary regime - and introducing progressive linear teleologys in order to colonize time, the postrevolutionary regime has violently reproduced and limited temporal imaginaries" (p.6).
    "There is a multiplicity of experiences - between resistance and accommodation - that show how non-internalized alternatives to colonial time exist within structures of violence" (p.14).
    Core argument: Imagination offers a "language of possibility, revisiting open wounds of the past with the hope of imagining another future, is a key feature of memoir pedagogy, listening, and sharing political narratives" (p.9); at the same time, decolonizing time is essential for prefiguring our imagination.

  • Combining social media and career development learning: An intensive tertiary preparation programme for disadvantaged youth

    Date: 2013

    Author: Ryan, N.; Hopkins, S.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: Enabling program at USQ for Year 12 leavers (TPP Intensive School = TPPIS), particular focus on low SES students. Course is designed to address academic communication, numeracy, study management strategies, career development and raise aspirations. Program incorporates social media (closed group on Facebook) as purposeful strategy to increase participation - to aid transition and expand social networks. TPPIS = summer school: "pre-tertiary bridging program". Sounds like FB was used in similar way to VLE (posting videos/ lecture PowerPoints/ assessment templates etc. as well as sharing photos of accommodation etc.)
    Theoretical frame: Draws loosely on notion of capital (but no ref to Bourdieu)
    Methodology: Participants = 20 17-18 low SES school leavers from Toowoomba, Brisbane or Ipswich and some rural towns
    Findings:
    - 67% of student-participants = rated Facebook TPPIS site as excellent; 33% = good;
    - Students tended to check FB more than VLE: "young people from LSES backgrounds are less likely to have access to social networks which value educational achievement and facilitate successful transitions to career opportunities" (p.109);
    Core argument: Strong social networks = important factor in career development and study success (80% of sample group moved onto UG study)

  • Committed to learn: student engagement and care in higher education

    Date: 2017

    Author: Barnacle, R.; Dall'Alba, G.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: Student engagement, neoliberalism (and the nexus between them) and care in Australian higher education. Draws on extensive work of Zepke to argue that student engagement has varying and contested meanings, and shares assumptions with neoliberalism about the economic/ market value of students' education and engagement (performativity/ accountability). Authors express concern that aligning student engagement with neoliberal priorities will erode the project of active learning and inquiry [aka deep learning] and will instead promote "conformism and game-playing" (p.1327). Example of nexus between student engagement and performativity = student engagement surveys; "Such surveys are attractive precisely because they render the complex simple" (p.1327). Such surveys are underpinned by sets of values, which do not necessarily match those of the students. Authors extend argument made in earlier paper about 'ontological turn' (drawing on Barnett, 2005) and students' becoming.
    Aim: To offer an 'ontological account' [aka becoming] of care and student engagement; to focus on "how Heidegger and Noddings' notions of care can inform a conception of student engagement that resists, rather than unwittingly reinforces, performativity and neoliberal values" (p.1328). Constructing teaching and learning as caring relationship, authors ask:
    "...how is it possible to assure congruence in the caring relation?
    On what basis might a would-be carer, such as a teacher, gauge an appropriate response to a call for care, like a desire to learn?" (p.5)
    Theoretical frame: Heidegger's notion of care and Noddings' (2005) 'capacity to care'
    Methodology: Essay
    Discussion: Literature review: Heidegger = to be human is to care; our commitments make us act/ be in particular ways and implications for others with whom we interact ('Others'). Heidegger's notion of care = multifaceted/ intersects with power (to dominate); authors make case that learner/ing-centred education = effort to care without domination. Noddings - working from Heidegger = care as open-ness to others. Care between carer/receiver of care = must be mutual and involves 'motivational displacement' (own motives displaced by motives of other). There is no recipe for care. First step is to want to care (openness) and to be receptive to the other. Care = reciprocal in both inter-human (care for other humans) and human to non-human (e.g. for discipline) care.
    In teaching and learning, attending to students' struggles and successes (and wanting to learn from them) = type of care ('attuned responsiveness'; see Dall'Alba, 2009) - need to monitor what students are interested in (through formal assessment and pedagogic observation). This helps to erode power of market: "Promoting and sustaining passion for ideas and other things - beings and entities - stand in stark contrast to merely meeting the requirements of paying 'customers' or 'the market' (Gibbs, 2015)" (p.1331)
    Committed to care: 3 levels of insight from Noddings' work: 1) extends to care-about-ideas; 2) care-for-students involves being responsive to their interests and capacities - "Importantly, it also acknowledges multiple learning trajectories in promoting students' being and becoming" (p.1332). This recognition of multiplicity and ambiguity requires reflexivity (on part of teachers) = supportive of care without domination; 3) teachers have a responsibility to show students 'how to care', "not only in terms of promoting passion for ideas and objects, but also through students caring about each other in their interactions" (p.1333) - to move beyond narrow conception of care as 'self-care'.
    Commitment in learning - enrolling in a course = commitment to becoming what a student is 'not yet' (Heidegger). Key problem with dominant student engagement strategies = need to forego the personal for the public; "The issue here is that there is an expectation personal values be set aside or surrendered in favour of values that support a performativity agenda" (p.1334). This privileging of performativity erodes possibilities for open-ness and risk
    Core argument: "Approaching education through the concept of care as concernful Being-in-the-world provides an alternative perspective to an instrumental agenda of performativity. It does so through highlighting an ontological dimension of learning and its role in contributing to who, rather than what, students are becoming" (p.1336)

  • Comparing disabled students' entry to higher education with their non-disabled peers - barriers and enablers to success

    Date: 2013

    Author: Wray, P.

    Location: United Kingdom

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    Context: Statistical evidence and qualitative research on HE in England suggests that disabled people underachieve in comparison to their non-disabled peers and that they face a range of barriers that hinder their success throughout their educational journey. In 2009, Aimhigher (a government-funded programme that aimed to increase the participation rates of underrepresented groups in study within HE) in Warwickshire and Coventry formed a working group to oversee activities that were targeted at learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD). The group decided to investigate the educational journeys of these learners and to identify additional barriers, administrative burdens and skills required to enable successful progression.
    Aim: To examine and compare the experiences of disabled and non-disabled learners within the education system in England. RQs: 1) 'What barriers and enablers to equitable access to higher education exist within the educational journeys of disabled learners? 2)How do these barriers and enablers compare with the experiences of non- disabled learners? (p. 87).
    Theoretical frame: Social model of disability (Oliver, 1996; Barnes, 1991): To identify disabling barriers within the educational environment.
    Methodology: A qualitative approach was employed, with focus groups as the primary method of data collection. Participants: Two groups: One group of disabled and one group of non-disabled learners. Participants were recruited from two further education (FE) colleges and two HE institutions in West Midlands. FE groups: Six learners in each group (n=12); HE groups: 12 disabled learners & 16 non-disabled learners.
    Findings: Common barriers and enablers for HE: 1) FE students: a)Motivations for continuing in education: Both groups were influenced by similar factors - significant others; liking towards subject studied; future work prospects; implications for studying. Compared to non-disabled students, disabled students were much more satisfied with current college situations. b)University choice and options after college: Both groups ruled out university for similar reasons - money issues; level of debt; non-disabled learners' perception of colleges' lack of proactiveness c)Previous experiences at school: Distinct differences in issues raised by disabled learners - All six disabled learners had negative experiences - poor delivery of education; unmet needs; bullying and isolation (mainstream schools); accessibility and mobility issues (bigger schools). 2)University students: a)Finance and work: Both groups of students saw financial arrangements within the current system as an enabler, not a barrier. B)Experiences from school: Contrast in responses between non-disabled students, who mentioned feelings of 'strong self-belief' (p. 95) from their experiences, and non-disabled students, who mentioned varying levels of support at school. Students highlighted role of significant others in encouraging their pursuit of HE. Disabled students also reported negative expectations towards them in school, which sometimes restricted their choices. c)Advice received: Differences in responses between disabled & non-disabled students' responses - Disabled students: Availability of support services & accessibility of campus were key factors influencing students' university choices; DSAs and accommodations by universities were significant enablers; Non-disabled students:
    Recommendations: 1) As many student chose not to pursue HE due to financial concerns, this factor should be considered by schools and colleges in the quest towards widening participation into HE. 2)The influence of significant others, especially teachers, as highlighted in the findings, emphasises the role of teaching staff in inspiring learners to pursue HE.
    Core argument: Availability of course & academic standing of institution influenced their university choices.
    Disabled learners face significantly more barriers in their educational trajectories compared to non-disabled learners. The findings highlight a marked contrast between the two groups of learners in terms of the difficulties they had faced during their schooling, as disabled learners dealt with a number of issues throughout their education which non-disabled learners simply never encountered.

  • Competing Motivations in Germany's Higher Education Response to the "Refugee Crisis".

    Date: 2018

    Author: Streitweiser, B.; Bruck, L.

    Location: Germany

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    Context: Large numbers of new refugees entering Germany after 2015-6; 30,000-50,000 refugees will soon be eligible to access higher education. Authors offer overview of the 'refugee crisis' of 2015, and Germany's migration history, and the German response - initially Germany focused on meeting basic needs, but after time (and after stabilising bureaucratic processes), Germany has started directing people to retraining/ education. The point of difference from other patterns of migration to Germany was the (short-lived) welcome offered to new arrivals (described in the press as resulting in "compassion fatigue" - p.39). Authors offer overview of German higher education system (p.40) - Germany offers tuition-free higher education to citizens, and nearly 13% of student body = international students. Student enrolments have doubled in the last decade, resulting in universities limiting students' choices. Authors note that increased enrolments have led to larger class sizes and more content being moved online. Authors express concern about the resourcing of the supports that refugee students need in order to access/ resume their higher education studies. Prospective students can access university places with one of three pathways: 1) Hochschulzugangsberechtigung, HZB (university entrance qualification); 2) TestAS (standardised scholastic measurement test); 3) language proficiency verification (German and/or English - see p.41 for details). When refugees arrive and wish to take up any kind of residency status, they must enroll in an integration classes, which include language classes and cultural/ civic knowledge. The language classes take new arrivals to B1 level, which is not sufficient to gain access to university study (C1 level).
    Attrition rates of African and Latin American students are much higher than German students (41% and 59%, compared with 28%).
    Aim: To explore "the cultural, political, and economic dynamics as they were in Germany in 2015-16 and in particular how its higher education sector responded" (abstract); to analyse "how the social, political, and economic realities of education affected Germany's universities and the ways they responded in the first years of this newest refugee challenge for Germany, how they began to adapt their programming on the basis of their experience with the first refugee cohorts, and what challenges they foresaw for integrating refugees into higher education" (p.39).
    Theoretical framework: Robertson & Dale's (2015) Critical Cultural Political Economy of Education ('education ensemble' + interaction with cultural, political and economic processes) and Gersick's (1991) Punctuated Equilibrium Paradigm (organisationals = relatively long periods of stability punctuated by periods of turmoil/crisis)
    Methodology: Based on study of higher education institutions' responses to 'refugee crisis' as an intention to speak back to unnuanced media commentary (by detailing the situation and reactions). Study based on media analysis ("how the migration dynamic in Germany played out in cultural, political, and economic terms as reported in the daily and weekly newspapers and magazines spanning the political spectrum" (p.42) and review of grey (state) literature; survey of 15 universities regarding current/ planned activities with regard to 'refugee crisis'; email communication with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) who have oversight of educational integration of refugees
    Findings: Organised according to Robertson & Dale's (2015) CCPEE framework
    Media analysis evidences a divided discoursal landscape: split between pro- and anti-refugee active civil society: "The "refugee crisis" catalyzed actions by different pockets of society and mobilized people of diverse backgrounds and persuasions who previously had not been as publicly willing to voice their sentiments" (p.43). Initial support and action has translated into a higher proportion of people who think the state is doing too much/ supporting too many (see p.43), and the rise of populist-nationalist politics. At same time, universities had autonomy to respond as they saw fit. As a sector, higher education institutions worked together and with civil society to develop and strengthen programs/ services, and received DAAD funding to develop refugee-focused programs and supporting refugee access (e.g. allowing students to audit courses, attend language classes, receive counseling and take part in events) - embracing universities' 'third mission' (see p.44). Universities provided language/preparatory classes to help progress refugees from B1 level language acquired in integration classes, to C1 level required for access to university (supported by DAAD funding). Take up between institutions varied. See p.45-6 for comparisons of specific institutions. Issues with estimating future student numbers exist because Germany cannot collect information beyond country of origin (there is no national database with information about refugee students).
    Economic context - initially DAX-listed top 30 companies promised employment to refugees; however, one year later only 54 (out of open 500k jobs) were filled by refugees with open-ended contract. Language proficiency issues were often cited by companies; however the authors are scathing of this excuse, "Essentially, most of the top thirty DAX-listed companies refused to put their money where their mouth was" (p.46). Instead, many of the small-medium businesses took on refugee employees, supported by the vocational training system. Authors question whether many refugees assumed that a higher education qualification would lead to work, therefore not understanding how Germany's vocational education system works.
    Core argument:
    Recommendations to universities with reference to 30-50k more students likely to take up higher education opportunities:
    1) do better monitoring of refugee enrolments with transparent data tracking
    2) program impacts of refugee-specific programs need to be evaluated; universities need to "empirically monitor the impact and success of their programming for refugees and thereby justify the considerable effort and significant costs related to refugee integration" (p.47)
    3) offer appropriate supports, "such as academic writing or guidance for self-structured learning" to help prevent attrition (p.47).
    Refugee intake offers a 'qualitative metamorphic' possibility for German higher education (following Gersick's concept), but German universities need to do more to leverage from the crisis to improve and develop.

  • Competing Narratives of Time in the Managerial University: The contradictions of fast time and slow time

    Date: 2015

    Author: Guzman-Valenzuela, C.; Di Napoli, R.

    Location: Australia

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    Bifurcated time in the managerial university
    "Universities are characteristically in the grip of two powerful sets of separate forces. On the one hand, universities are immersed in a context of neoliberal policies, marketization and competition.... [which] generates a pace in which 'speed is power' (Virilio, 1986)....
    On the other hand, processes of accountability and a restricted national funding environment promote a climate of doing 'more with less'... As a result, administrative processes -bureaucracy- encourage slow speeds though what can be at times unending cycles of checks and controls on academic activities"...
    Both entrepreneurship and bureaucracy are often present in the same institution and each represents singular pacings: quickness and sluggishness, fast time and slow time" - p.155

  • Competition, Innovation and Diversity in Higher Education: Dominant Discourses, Paradoxes and Resistance

    Date: 2020

    Author: Dakka, F.

    Location: United Kingdom

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    Context: Contemporary HE is theoretically challenging, as it is influenced by a variety of institutional actors and processes that are interconnected and engaged with the global, economic, political and cultural environment that has historically generated it and continues to shape it.
    Aim: To contribute to the 'extant critique of (higher) education by introducing the concept of 'polarised convergence' as an instance of differentiation without diversity in the contemporary English university' (p. 81). Theoretical aim: To review the shifting state-higher education-market nexus via a critical cultural political economy lens. Conceptual aim: To closely examine concepts that expos the material & discursive 'dispositifs' through which nation-states, institutions & individual actors mobilize universities to position themselves in the global knowledge economy.
    Theoretical frame: Key theoretical concepts: 1) 'Logic of competition' (Davies, 2014) 2)'Competition fetish' (Naidoo, 2011; 2015; 2018) 3) 'Polarised convergence' (Dakka, 2020).
    Methodology: The discussion is complemented by empirical evidence obtained from a doctoral project conducted to capture the views, reactions and analyses of senior leaders in HE (2013-2014). The empirical evidence is aimed to highlight the 'contradictory and paradoxical outcomes' of competitiveness practiced in English HE institutions. Data collection method: Semi-structured interviews. Participants: Six senior leaders in HE institutions. Sample: 6 HE institutions characterised as 'research intensive, teaching intensive and mixed'.
    Discussion: 1) State-university-market: A shifting construct - a)Competition & competitiveness within contemporary HE (structural, discursive & cultural undertones): i)Systemic level: Regulation approach (RA) (Jessop, 1990, 1993, 1995)- allows the alignment of globalisation, neoliberalisation and the re-scaling and re-structuring of the post-Keynesian capitalist state with the transformation of HE. ii)'Competitive state' (Cerny, 1990, 1997): Connects state transformation with 'exogenous pressures' (p. 81) stemming from globalization via 3 key areas: International market structures and economic networks arising from the international mobility capital; rapid and diffuse technological change; the formation of international networks and discourses of power legitimating new types of governance. b)Commodification/Marketization of HE: 'New spatial politics of (re)bordering and (re)ordering of the state-education-citizen relation' (Robertson, 2011) (p. 82) - Globalizing processes, specifically the widespread diffusion of neoliberalism has led to new forms of territorial bordering (eg: European Higher Education Arena) & the emergence of new categories which as 'constitutive of education sectors and subjectivities' (Robertson, 2011, p. 281). 2)English higher education - a complex ecology: Trajectory of recent policy interventions in English HE: 2012 - a) Changes resulting from the liberalisation of the HE sector: Tripling of the annual tuition fees (capped at GBP9000) backed by a (financially unsustainable) Income Contingent Loan system; partial relaxation of student number controls (AABs, ABBs policies); the Research Excellence Framework (2014); creation of a level playing field for alternative providers (private & for-profit education providers); increased reliance on metrics (eg. Key Information Sets, National Student Survey, multiple ranking devices) to evaluate performance & produce accurate information for the student-consumer (BIS White Paper, 2011). B) Impact of the Higher Education and Research Act (2017): Introduction of a Teaching Excellence Framework (will pave the way for variable tuition fees in connection with outcomes after 2020); creation of the Office for Students (merges the functions of the existing Office for Fair Access (OFFA) & the former Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)); increased reliance on metrics (student satisfaction, graduate employment, retention) for performance evaluation & the creation of new evaluation measures; merging of seven research councils, Innovate UK, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); easing the entry & operational requirements for alternative providers; evaluation of the more flexible switching of university courses; increased transparency in admission processes by demanding the publication of gender, ethnicity & socio-economic backgrounds of the student body. 3) Unpacking competition: Competition emerges as a 'symbolic and material engine at the heart of neoliberal marketization' (p. 83); 'The theoretical paradoxes of competition' (p. 83) are central to the current articulation of the relationship between state, education and markets in 3 key ways: i)The promotion of competition requires the state to play both the 'active and disengaged' role (p. 84) 2) Competition 'paradoxically combines equality and inequality' (p. 84) 3)Competition is both 'an object of investigation & a policy', transcending the disciplinary division between sociology and neoclassical economics' (p. 84); Question that triggered the crucial shift towards theorising competitiveness as an 'ultimate source of authority and legitimization': 'Is market competition necessary to deliver competitiveness?' (Davies, 2014, p. 44); Other theories relating to 'competition': 'Competitive agency grants' (Schumpeter, 2014) - Contends that long term feasibility of capitalism is threatened by 'oppressive bureaucracies and rationalistic attempts' to control the future, which is evident in both governments and private enterprises, competition is thus expanded to include sociological, cultural, political and technological factors; 'Competition fetish' (Naidoo, 2011; 2015; 2018) - Complements and develops Davies' distinction between classic competition and competitiveness. 'Shamans' of competition: Governments, international organizations such as the OECD or the World Bank, and global corporations (Naidoo, 2018). Argues that competition inside the university is 'relayed, internalized, reproduced or resisted with the help of institutional 'audit-market' intermediaries' (Enders & Naidoo, 2018) (p. 84), which either facilitate the transmission of market forces, or act as buffers/negotiators. Third & crucial layer of Naidoo's 'competition fetish' concept: Naidoo's anthropological take on the magic workings of the 'fetish' through a series of 'mind snares' (Naidoo, 2018, p. 6), which adds analytical strength to Davies' examination of the Schumpeterian innovator's psychological traits; Many scholars agree with Davies' and Naidoo's critique of neoliberal competition as 'essentially hindering diversity and innovation, exacerbating pre-existing inequalities, creating new zones of exclusion (via institutional stratification) and fundamentally altering the nature of academic work' (p. 85) ((Dale 2016; Marginson 2016; Ahmed 2004; Burrows 2012; Burrows and Knowles 2014; Gill 2009; Collini 2012; Olssen 2016). 4)Competition & innovation in the English HE: Voices from the field (drawn from empirical evidence of doctoral project) - Highlights 'polarised convergence' (Dakka, 2020, p. 86), which illustrates the intrinsic contradictions stemming from a case of 'marketization by the state' - clarifies two fundamental aspects of the rhetoric and reality of competitive markets in education: a) 'Imperfections', instead of failures, are intrinsic to the implementation of market mechanisms. b)The subjective tensions & analytic discomfort surround meanings & interpretations of marketisation were unanimously expressed by participants of the study (senior managers, university leaders) & literature; Senior leaders (often sharing thoughts in 'dual mode' (p. 86): managerial & academic) - highlighted the intricacies, ambiguities & tensions observed in Naidoo's account of the structural, symbolic & affective levers of competition; Competition appears to be both the 'cause and solution to the predicament' (p. 87) faced by the leaders' respective institutions: its opaque contours and strong emotional connotations ('cut-throat', 'feed your own institution') drive symbolic and strategic action, without a clear promise of educational or financial gain (p. 87) - in line with Naidoo's analysis: the competition fetish produces a 'psychological ambience of the university' but is more or less actualized in excellence policies which aim to increase productivity (p. 87); A sense of urgency and nervousness was observed when participants reflected on the meaning of enterprise, innovation & distinctiveness in their institutions - most participants candidly admit their inability to define what makes their institution distinctive or what is defined as being 'entrepreneurial, excellent and innovative' (p. 87); Tensions & ambivalence of the HE leaders regarding goals & ambitions that are explicitly framed in business-like jargon is observed; Participants' responses confirm Sum & Jessop's (2013) reflections on the relationship between competitiveness, HE & the knowledge-based economy and the increasing trends towards innovative regional partnership models; Marketization is identified with financial shortage/redistribution, liberalization, commercialization and metricization' (p. 89); The uneven levels of competition within and across national borders demystifies the classic liberal belief of equivalence , where all competitors start equal & only become unequal as a result of competition; 'When institutional differentiation is equated to its reputational divide and market positioning, in-segment convergence is favoured and systemic, functional differentiation is sacrificed', resulting in the 'ultimate paradox: differentiation with diversity' (p. 90).
    Summary of discussion: 1)The binary logic of success/failure that is so embedded in pecking orders institutionalizes competitiveness by conflating means with ends to the detriment of the diversity and richness of educational experiences and philosophies. 2)Mimetic desire, existential anxiety and shame are powerful emotional instruments through which neoliberalism, via the logic of competition, finds its internal source of legitimation and reproduction, swallowing its own critique and accommodating paradoxes. 3)The link between semiosis and affect should not be overlooked: that is, the fetishization of calculative practices in education is built upon and justified by certain constellations of feelings (p. 90).
    Core argument: Competitive, mimetic desire and the 'affective' nature of competition can pose a significant challenge to the current HE systems' ability to effectively and substantially diversify their structures and contents, consequently compromising the achievement of its intended goals: innovation and positional advantage in the knowledge-based economy. A counter-narrative to the fetish of competition & a remedy to innovation loss should begin from 'a subversion and re-signification of meanings, practices & spaces' (p. 91).

  • Completing university in a growing sector: Is equity an issue?

    Date: 2015

    Author: Edwards, S.; McMillan, J.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: NCSEHE-funded project report tracking student completion and attrition from 2005-2013.
    Methodology: Used data from Higher Education Student Collection -tracking the Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) of individual students to follow enrolment of domestic bachelor students through pathways within and between courses and institutions from 2005 - 2013. Outcomes of long-scale tracking compared with cohorts of students tracked over shorter time periods for validation purposes. Also analysed data from 2013 University Experience Survey for reasons for attrition in groups less likely to complete
    Findings: National completion rate: 73.6% of students who started a bachelor course in 2005 had completed a degree by 2013. Lower completion rates correlated with:
    - Low ATAR scores (particularly under ATAR 60)
    - Part-time students
    - External students ??
    - Students studying Information Technology/ Agriculture and Environmental Studies
    - Regional universities
    - Students who started when over 25 years old
    - Male students
    69% of students from low SES completed, compared with 78% of high SES students. Low SES students more likely to drop out in first 2 years or still to have completed 9 years after enrolling.
    60% of students from remote areas completed, compared with 70% of regional areas and 75% of metropolitan areas.
    Indigenous students' completion rate: 47%/ non-indigenous completion rate: 74%, 20% of indigenous students dropped out before Year 2
    Age: 80.3% of 19 and under/ 70.4% of 20-24/ 58.4% of 25+ complete
    Many students experience compounded challenges by belonging to multiple equity groups
    Reasons for attrition: equity group students more likely to cite: finance, family responsibilities, 'getting by' (non-equity students more likely to cite lifestyle or 'choice')
    'Disadvantage' appears to be erased by university completion
    Core argument: Do HE completion rates differ for different groups? Yes: substantial differences
    Are disadvantaged students less likely to complete? Yes: low SES/ regional or remote and indigenous students had lower completion rates overall
    Future research agenda: Continue exploring tracking data through the Graduate Destination Survey and Graduate Pathways Survey and Beyond Graduation Survey. Further exploration of outcomes of specific groups to show difference a university degree can offer to futures. More detailed analyses of cohort data.

  • Conceptions of learning and quality of university life among deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing university students

    Date: 2018

    Author: Cheng, S.; Fung Sin, K.

    Location: China

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    Context: As the quality of university life is a significant predictor for various aspects of student success at university, including their level of academic success (Pedro, Leita_o, and Alves 2014) and psychological integration within the university (Unalan et al. 2008), the issue of how to enhance students' quality of university life has received great scholarly interest. Previous literature has highlighted the relation between environmental, demographic, or individual difference variables and the quality of university life (e.g. Cheng and Zhang 2017; Hipp et al. 2016; Pekmezovic et al. 2011). As there is an increasing number of DHH students who have gained access to universities, it is meaningful to explore the quality of university life including satisfaction with academic domains, social domains, and facilities and services among DHH students. In addition, many new DHH university students suffer from high attrition rates at the university to a statistically significant extent when compared with hearing students (Boutin 2008; Gore, Leuwerke, and Turley 2005).
    Aim: This study aims to test how deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) students' individual differences in conceptions of learning relate to their university life quality. Hypothesis: '...the deep-level conceptions of learning (i.e. learning as an understanding, learning as continuous, learning as a social competence, learning as a personal change, and learning as a duty) would significantly and positively predict quality of university life, while the surface-level conceptions of learning (learning as gaining information) would significantly and negatively predict quality of university life' (p. 4).
    Theoretical framework: 1) Purdue & Hattie's (2002) 'conceptions of learning' (p. 2): Six conceptions of learning which can be classified into two levels (surface and deep). The deep level involves five conceptions of learning: learning as an understanding, learning as continuous, learning as a social competence, learning as a personal change, and learning as a duty. The surface level includes one conception of learning: learning as gaining information. 2) Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, and Rahtz's (2007) 'quality of university life'(p. 3): four domains for quality of university life: satisfaction with the overall university life, satisfaction with academic aspects of university life, satisfaction with social aspects of university life and satisfaction with university facilities and services.
    Methodology: DHH students (n=200) and hearing students (n=24) from the same academic discipline (art & Design) from two universities were selected for the study. Measures used: 1)The conceptions of learning inventory III (The COL-III; Peterson, Brown & Irving, 2010): 6 point Likert scale 2) A modified version of the original quality of university life measure (QULM) ((Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, and Rahtz 2007), with 45/70 items remaining. Responses were captured using a 5-point rating scale. Data analysis: The reliabilities for the two inventories were first estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Following that, multiple regressions were performed separately for each of the four quality of university life scales among hearing and DHH students respectively, with all the six conceptions of learning serving as predictor variables in each analysis and with relevant demographic factors being controlled for.
    Findings: 1)for DHH students, conceptions of learning contributed to the prediction of quality of university life at a statistically significant level (8 % - 22%). Duty (the deep level) significantly positively predicted overall satisfaction with university life, satisfaction with academic and social aspects of university life, and satisfaction with university facilities and services. 2)For hearing students, the contributions of conceptions of learning were also noted ( 7% to 10%). Duty (the deep level) significantly positively predicted all the four subscales of quality of university life, while continuous (the deep level) significantly negatively predicted satisfaction with university facilities and services.
    Discussion: The predictive relationships found between the two constructs are more likely to be true than to have been found by chance, for the following four reasons: 1) There is no conceptual similarity between conceptions of learning and quality of university life 2) In general, students with the deep-level conceptions of learning tended to be more satisfied with university life, while those with the surface-level tended to be less satisfied. 3) Findings among hearing students are consistent with that of Rabanaque and Marti_nez-Fernandez (2009) which indicated that students with interpretative and constructive conceptions (more advanced level) tended to score higher on student developmental outcomes (i.e. intrinsic value and motivation). 4) Only duty and gaining information among DHH and only duty and continuous among hearing students were found to significantly influence quality of university life.
    Implications: 1) University administrators and teachers can use the modified QULM to undersstand the quality of DHH and hearing students' university life more comprehensively, be better able to guide or train students to feel more comfortable about and satisfied with their university life. 2) University teachers may be able to promote the quality of DHH and hearing students' university life by cultivating the deep-level conceptions of learning among them.
    Core argument: As predicted, deep-level conceptions of learning significantly and positively predicted quality of university life for both DHH and hearing students, while surface-level conceptions of learning significantly and negatively predicted quality of university life among DHH students. Contrary to the hypothesis, deep-level conceptions of learning (continuous) significantly negatively predicted satisfaction with university facilities and services.

  • Connecting with Students from New and Emerging Communities in Social Work Education.

    Date: 2013

    Author: Wache, D.; Zufferey, C.

    Location: Australia

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    Context: University of South Australia, African students in particular from HEB backgrounds enrolled in the School of Psychology, Social Work, and Social Policy.
    Aim: What barriers do students from HEB face when enrolled in social work degrees at HE institutions, specifically? How can HE institutions improve their learning experience? Increase understandings and improve teaching practices when working with students from 'new and emerging communities' (80)
    Conclusions: Support to HEB students in first year needs to be culturally appropriate and take into account the specificities of refugee experience; these students may need support to develop 'academic' English and computer literacy skills; the transition from TAFE and other education settings needs to be further supported, particularly given expectations can be quite different to university. Further research is needed with larger samples of students, across different universities, to further explore this experience of HE and to improve the experiences of HEB students in HE. Another particular focus would be on the barriers that African students specifically face when going on WIL placements (potential for the future?).
    Core argument: Directly situates the gap in the literature we are addressing. Provides recommendations that we can platform from, and compare and contrast to.

  • Considering Diversity, Change and Intervention: How the Higher Education Curriculum Looked in on Itself

    Date: 2012

    Author: Hatton, K.

    Location: United Kingdom

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    Context: Examines development of diversity initiatives in HE curriculum; specifically looks at absences of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups. In UK context, BAME participation, retention and success rates are concerning (in comparison with 'White' students) - see p.36 for definitions. NUS 2011 survey on race reports that 42% of respondents do not consider curriculum reflected diversity, while 34% thought they could not express their views on this to their lecturers
    Aim: To discuss two 'diversity initiatives' for BAME students in two English universities; to reflect and "consider curriculum change and intervention, in supporting the collective rights of all students" (p.35); to outline institutional approaches for considering diversity and institutional change.
    Theoretical frame: Ppst-structural: Atkinson's (2002) pedagogised practices, pedagogised identities - these emerge through pedagogic contexts, pedagogised other (students marginalised/ excluded due to pedagogic practices and curriculum choices). Also, Bhaba (1994) and 'fixity' of (colonial) discourse
    Methodology: Autobiographical reflections using case study: case study 1 = cross-college diversity intervention = 'co-constructed' elective second year module; case study 2 = explores issues of race and ethnicity in one HEI, "by seeking to understand and reduce differentials in degree classification by the engagement of staff within new curriculum research initiatives across the institution" (p.35)
    Findings: Critique of labels like BAME and 'White' = "culturally and institutionally bound concepts, reflecting the current UK institutional narrative around HE student data collection and diversity initiatives" (p.37)
    HE curriculum = normative and powerful in terms of dictating 'sameness' (see Naidoo; Modood, 2007) about 'fitting in'. The role of tutors/teachers = central: "Tutors are predominantly at the heart of the recognised course identity, and this would be a very powerful position to be in as it describes and reproduces that which it knows best" (p.40). In Western contexts, curriculum is predominantly Eurocentric and is 'fixed' by tutors 'anxiously repeating' courses (see Bhaba, 1994; p.41); Hatton asserts that tutors' "lack of confidence in creating change
    that may hinder curriculum development" (p.41; and for good reason if they are casual tutors). This fixity can also exist at macro-disciplinary level ('canonical' knowledge).
    Case study 1: Arts-based cross-college elective module; author was program convenor - autobiographical reflection - co-construction of knowledge with students and constant recreation of course
    Case study 2: author is involved in this current research project: Retain-Achieve-Succeed (RAS) - part of WP agenda of her university. Focus = integrating culture and creativity within HE curricula. Reflexes on hegemonic power of Whiteness (as the norm). Methodological and ethical richness and complexity; research = ongoing.
    Core argument: Recommendations for implementation:
    1) "Using cross-faculty knowledge and individual research expertise, along with practical steps towards ensuring students feel safe expressing their ideas around subjects, is helpful" (p.47)
    2) Need to recognise institutional power in facilitating/ limiting curricular/ cultural transformation
    3) Offers 9 questions for institutions to 'look in on themselves' (p.48-9) that probe the ontological and epistemological foundations and assumptions of a course/ subject/ discipline