Higher Education Equity Literature Database

Context: NCSEHE-funded research. Literature review identifies 6 themes across international literature on students with disabilities (SwD): "(a) academics' poor knowledge of disabilities; (b) academics' lack of
sensitivity while discussing educational adjustments issues; (c) students with "invisible" disabilities being misunderstood by peers and academics; (d) poor study skills and time management skills of students with disabilities; (e) negative self-perceptions among students with disabilities, and (f) disability self-disclosure issues" (p.11).
Aim: "to explore and describe the lived experiences of students with a self-disclosed disability enrolled at a regional university in Australia" (p.6)
Theoretical frame: Academic persistence and resilience (Connor & Davison, 2003; Berger & Lyon, 2005): psychological orientation
Methodology: 2-stage: 1) web-based survey (n=274) on socio-demographics, disability characteristics, career optimism, wellbeing, academic satisfaction, and resilience; 2) interviews with 30 students with disabilities (SwD) at one regional Australian university on strategies to overcome barriers. Analysis of quant data = descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modelling.
Findings:
Survey findings
- 70%+ of survey respondents = over 30 years of age (average age = 38);
- more female than male (65:35%).
- 34% did not disclose disability when enrolling.
- 50% who had disclosed did not use disability support service.
- Most common disability = self-reported psychological conditions (35%); 55% = more than one 'comorbid' condition. More had 'invisible' disabilities than 'visible' (physical) disabilities.
- 75% = online or online + on-campus mode
- Students with higher GPA (5.5+) = more resilient and satisfied (according to scales)
- No direct relationship evident between resilience, academic satisfaction, wellbeing, career optimism and academic achievement
Interview data
- Of the 30 SwD = common characteristics for high-achievers: "taking personal responsibility for their actions, having a good personal social network, perseverance, resourcefulness, and having pragmatic expectations of self and life" (p.7).
- External environmental factors = generally considered barriers to success (e.g. "being misunderstood by teaching staff, unsupportive attitudes of university administrative staff, inaccessible course materials, peer ridicule, financial difficulties, low expectations, frequent staff turnover in DRO, health, counselling, and other needed
- support services, and not receiving assessment adjustments on time" (p.7).
- Disability Resource Office (DRO) = useful for some students in terms of making course materials more accessible
- Academically high-achievers = strategic learners who "selected contextually specific strategies in their repertoire and persevered with it until the adversity was mitigated" when they had problems (p.7).
Recommendations:
1. Create a professional development-training module for mandatory training for all academic staff that focuses on universal design principles.
2. Create specific programs of support for female university students with disabilities.
3. Provide resilience intervention training to university students.
4. Provide comprehensive and flexible disability support services.
5. Provide online student discussion groups (p.9)
Core argument: More longitudinal research needed, especially for the large proportion of SwD with psychological issues (because they have high attrition rate and tend to perform less well). Also more research on influence of resilience on optimism, wellbeing and academic outcomes needed so as to identify university stressors

Context: Examines how three dimensional virtual learning environments (3DVLEs) can impact on equity/ social inclusion agenda, particularly for students with disabilities. ALTC-funded research. 3DVLE = "a game-like environment that offers the potential for increased flexibility, enhanced collaborative opportunities and a safe environment for experiential learning activities" (p.460). Cites Willems (2010) = equity is "a multidimensional phenomenon", leading to 'equity sub-groups': "Through equity overlap and the interplay of equity subgroups, a social gradient of educational disadvantage is formed" (p.461). Also, notes the imperative to adapt teaching and learning strategies for increasingly diverse student population. Makes case that flexible learning methods can help expand options available to students
Aim: To present findings from research which explores how 3DVLEs can support the WP agenda; to highlight the accessibility limitations and explores suggestions for improving access (especially for SwD) + teaching strategies
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Research reported on = 2-part participatory study. First stage involved participatory design, development of accessible, open source 3DVLE and guidelines for improving access for SwD. Second stage = ethnographic research (n= 11 participant-users; 8 with disabilities; 3 = 3DVLE experts without disabilities in real lives)
Findings:
Possibilities for 3DVLEs & access
3DVLEs can open access for some (students with psychiatric, emotional and learning disabilities, e.g. aspergers through 'Second Life') but limit access for others. Limitations include issues with login screen for visually impaired users/ chat window and user interface = not accessible to screen reading technology and others, see p.465). Only 1 participant viewed Second Life as meeting accessibility guidelines; half considered it as not fully accessible for users with disabilities. Makes suggestions for changes (highly technological; see p.466-71).
Possibilities for 3DVLEs & participation
Major benefit of using such learning technologies = use of wide variety of media and meet different learning styles by adapting content and allowing time for reflection. Notes suggested strategies and users' responses (such as providing notecard descriptions and conducting sessions in text chat; see p.472).
Participants considered the following important:
- the ability to change the size and colour of text
- the availability of customisable interface skins
- the supplying of notecard descriptions
- the conducting of sessions in text chat and voice
- the provision of transcriptions for voice and audio
Participants suggested dedicated mentor-in-world to aid participation, diminishing distractions in virtual space, allowing sufficient time, and providing voice and text-based descriptions of content. Also, could offer orientation to 3DVLE
Possibilities for 3DVLEs & improving learning outcomes
Notes multiplicity of what constitutes outcomes (not just final success, also incremental successes and completion of program-specific reqs such as work placements)
Core argument: 3DVLEs can facilitate access and participation, provided that particular provisions are made to enhance accessibility for people with various disabilities/ impediments to learning

A brief in preparation for our Public Lecture event on 18 September 2018, featuring Michelle Hostrup, Kathy Deacon, Dr Tracy Durksen and Dr Tony Loughland.

Read the report

Context: In the global phenomenon of WP policy in higher education, lower retention rates for students from less advantaged socio-economic circumstances have potential to undermine the social inclusion agenda of HE. In Australia, however, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are retained at similar rates to their peers, yet there persists a sense of public crisis that WP presents a threat to the quality and integrity of the higher education system as a whole.
Aim: This paper responds to two questions arising from these data and public confidence discrepancies:
1. Why are students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds retained in Australian higher education (HE) at rates comparable with their peers, and higher than similar students in other HE systems within other OECD nations (particularly in the UK but also within other parts of Europe); and
2. Given their comparable retention, why does there appear to be such panic in Australia about the retention rates of low SES students in Australian HE?
Theoretical frame: Bourdieu's Social Theory (1984): 'Cultural capital' (Bourdieu, 1986) & 'Distinction' (Bourdieu, 1984)
Methodology: Document analysis - Newspaper and other media reports on issues related to WP in Australia (Participation targets, retention rates, equity initiatives, & government policy). Database: Newsbank, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Most print media articles: From The Australian (Australia's only national newspaper). Timeline: 2009 (when retention issues became a significant concern in HE) to 2015 (time of writing).
Findings: 1)Retention as problem: The crisis of confidence in WP - the media do not merely report the 'facts' but actively construct issues and problems that imply particular responses; media commentary has 3 overlapping strands: i) Increased student access leads to increased student drop out ii) The extent of drop out is unacceptably high and costly for governments, universities and students iii) Lower university entry scores are indicative of dropping standards; Perceived root of the problem -'Alleged academic inadequacies of disadvantaged students' (p. 83): a)The perception of 'under-prepared' students - Key theme in media reports & official documents: 'drop out' is almost a 'foregone conclusion' (p. 83) for low SES students because they are 'under-prepared' for university study due to low entrance scores or ATARs (Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks); b)The perceived extent/cost of the problem - Increased attrition is reasoned to be an 'inevitable result' (p. 85) of WP policies, which lead to excessive and unacceptable financial costs to institutions and government; It is also perceived that attrition has 'apparent personal costs' (p. 85) for students - 'breaks a lot of hearts' (Souter, in Trounson, 2011). c)Perceptions of quality - Potential of WP policies to reduce HE quality (Observed in sentiments by the Go8 & political campaigns leading up to the 2013 elections); In more elite universities: Quantity represents the 'antithesis of quality' and increased selectivity is presented as a solution. 2)Retention as evidenced in data: not a problem particular to socio-economic status - The media-induced panic about low SES students 'flooding' (p. 87) the Australian HE system & 'diluting' (p. 87) its quality does not match the reality: Despite the increasing number of domestic undergraduate students in Australia (204, 874 to 263, 073 from 2009 to 2013) (DoE, Selected Higher Education Statistics, Students), the proportion of low SES students participating in HE has remained 'relatively stable' (p. 87). Data on retention is similar: i) Retention rates of students from low SES backgrounds: in 2012 the retention rate was only slightly less for low SES students, at 80.08% compared to 81.96% for all domestic undergraduate students. ii)Retention ratio: Students from low SES backgrounds (0.98 from 2006 -2012), only slightly lower than their high SES peers. Three universities (Victoria University, University of Western Sydney and Central Queensland University - all with very high rates of low SES representation) have retention ratios above 1. Conversely the University of Melbourne (which often appears in international league tables as Australia's highest ranked university) and Macquarie University have low SES student retention ratios below 1. 3)Retention, as a function of cultural capital: theorising system, institution, group differences - National & system differences in student retention: Australia has a relatively more even distribution of cultural capital (which defines the field between advantaged & disadvantaged groups) than in some European countries & the UK that experience lower HE retention among students from dis- advantaged backgrounds (Bowes, Thomas et al., 2013); Institutional differences in student retention: There appears to be a more significant difference in the quantity of cultural capital between institutions. Universities that typically attract students from more advantaged backgrounds tend to have higher student retention rates overall than those with higher proportions of students from low SES backgrounds; Group differences in student retention: While the data show that differences in retention rates between groups (i.e. low and high SES groups) is small, these differences are greatest in Australia's elite universities. 4)Retaining field distinction: the politics of preserving advantage: In Bourdieu's (1984) terms, increased access to and participation in higher education no longer ascribes its graduates with distinction. A university degree is therefore perceived to be less distinguished, in 'mass' and near 'universal' HE systems (Trow, 1974, 2006) (p. 91). This 'sense of loss' (p. 91) underlies the imagined crisis of attrition in Australia. The resistance to WP policies observed is therefore an attempt to protect the distinction (Bourdieu, 1984) and value of the 'positional goods' of elite HE in a global market (Marginson, 2006) by limiting access to parts of the market.
Implications: For HE research in Europe: 1) European researchers should not take for granted where the problems of student attrition lie. 2) Research should expand student 'drop out' problem to include institutions & systems & how these produce attrition. 3)HE research should understand that not all attrition is due to the unpreparedness of for HE study.
Core argument: The value of the Australian HE retention case to the European HE lies 'not so much in their empirical similarity but their contrast; their juxtaposition provoking alternative ways of thinking about 'drop out' in European HE', consequently encouraging new research avenues.

This blog post is part of the Gonski Institute for Education’s open access annotated bibliography (OAAB) series, a project led by Dr Sally Baker. OAABs offer a snapshot of some of the available literature on a particular topic. The literature is curated by a collective of scholars who share an interest in equity in education. These resources are intended to be shared with the international community of researchers, students, educators and practitioners. The literature has been organised thematically according to patterns that have emerged from a deep and sustained engagement with the various fields.

Context: 'Failed transitions' of working class people who have 'dropped out' of university in context of widening participation to higher education in UK.
"Where notions of transition are inflexible and obdurate, failure follows soon behind for many young people", although moving to a looser definition of transition is not the solution (p.118). Chapter = concerned with identity, structure and agency.
"The emphasis [of transition to higher education] has been on the pivotal moment of change, on making it to the gates and going through. Very little attention is paid to what students learn once they enter" (p.119)
"So transition to HE is formulated as getting in and getting on, the student is an actor, but the terms of the transition are set by others. Transition is not postulated as a creatuve and interactive process and most of all it should not be turbulent and fragmented" (p.119). For institutions, anything that threatens retention = "must be regulated and suppressed" (p.119).
Transition to university = classed, gendered and racialised. "Transition to HE is thus highly stratified and complex" (p.119)
Chapter based on Joseph Rowntree Foundation-funded research with working-class people under 25, living in disadvantaged areas of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, first-in-family, and who dropped out of higher education (mostly white and male). All attended post-1992 institutions and lived in areas where traditional industries had died out.
Qualitative and participatory project, involving 120 participants/ stakeholders.
For the student-participants, transition narrative =not necessarily about change, but about stasis (staying in same town, same friends etc.)
Policy perspective = 'failed transition', but for participants "withdrawal was essentially part of an ongoing process of reassessment, of finding out what they did and didn't want to do and that they were practically able to do, given constraints such as family financial problems. Significantly, they did not want this to be the end of their engagement with university, and all but one expressed a desire to return to higher education in the future" (p.121).
"Essentially, they needed a flexible system to accommodate what can be conceptualised as a fluid learning self. Sadly this flexibility did not exist" (p.121).
Quinn critiques both the fixed inflexibility of linear, ritualised notions of transition, and the more rhizomatic view of becoming, because both suggest "a unified humanist subject capable of being transformed by education" (p.122). Transition as 'having a story to tell' suggests that all stories/ experiences are speakable - Quinn argues that for those with lives that are "marginal", it can be difficult to craft a coherent story of transition to 'educated person' - leading to silences in some populations: "I would argue that we are all always lost in transition, not just in moving from one task or context to another, but as a condition of our subjectivity" (p.123).
Policy makers need to recognise students' agency to make meaningful decisions for themselves; to challenge the grand narrative of higher education being the best choice; "They should recognise the potential benefits to some students of leaving early. Student withdrawal must be placed within a lifelong learning framework which facilitates movement out of and into higher education throughout life" (p.126).
"HE policy perceives transition as fixed point on a path without deviation" (p.127).

Context: Draws on her doctoral work on retention strategies for part-time, mature learners in UK HE.
Aim: Offers reconceptualization of notion of 'belonging' based on three sets of theories: Bourdieu's toolkit (habitus, capital, field), Brah's notion of diaspora and Massey's notion of space/place = working from multiple theoretical territories helps to capture more complexities and according to Abes (2009) is "theoretical borderlands"
Theoretical frame:
Bourdieu's theoretical toolkit helps to position belonging as a relational concept (drawing on habitus, field and capital) but "it risks homogenising internally diverse social groups and is limited in its articulation of belonging and not belonging as a lived experience" (p.42).
Brah's notion of diaspora = interpretive frame for analysing cultural, political, economic aspects of migration - relational positioning shapes "lived experience of a locality" (Brah, 1996: 189) and explore intersections between home and displacement (e.g. how do students feel about new environment of HE away from 'home' spaces?)
Massey's space/place = geographies of belonging. Space is "product of social relations shaped by power" (p.45) - space is temporal (space-time), signifies networks of social relationships and understandings. Places are "particular constellation of social relations" (Massey, 1997) and a "meeting up of histories, a multiplicity of trajectories" (Massey 2005:59). Space-place permit view of 'activity spaces' which have their own geographies of power. HEIs are 'extroverted places' - own institutional geographies of power create dominant narratives/ identity positions which are relational and imbued with/shaped by power relations
Core argument: Thomas argues that from exploring experiences of p/t mature age learners, arguments are formed that challenge the dominant positioning of 'belonging as a retention strategy' because this analysis illustrates that the dominant view jars with diversity and complexity of their experiences.

Context: Teaching in UK higher education in context of large-scale diversification of student body/ courses offered. Author offers example from Open University model of distance learning. Author notes that [at time of writing] the typical institutional response to student diversity = remedial models of support: "The stately home of elite education is simply extended by adding a large paupers' wing" (p.17)x`
Aim: To argue that neither traditional model nor student-centred model = panacea to teaching issues resulting from diversification of higher education; to propose "an emphasis on the sociocultural nature of learning and teaching, modelling learning as acquiring the capacity to participate in the discourses of an unfamiliar knowledge community, and teaching as supporting that participation" (abstract; p.17)
Methodology: Essay
Discussion:
Discussion about what knowledge is: is it transmission of information? If so, diversity confuses this because of the underlying assumptions about what students bring/where they start from. Sociocultural views of learning offer alternative through discourse communities/ communities of practice/ knowledge communities (e.g. Swales; Lave & Wenger).
Discussion of different levels of participation: central v. peripheral; generative v. vicarious, convergent v. variable understanding.
Discussion about what learning is: "- a user of various specialist discourses; - a participant within the relevant knowledge communities" (p.22).
Challenges of academic discourse resulting from diversity: "Many come to academic discourse expecting it to complement the knowledge produced in their other life-worlds, but instead find it discordant and unsettling" (p.23). Author discusses the various/varying discourses and discursive positions that students have to navigate, which are complicated for teachers/ing by the diversity in the class. Challenges play out with students' voices; "Voice requires a sense of one's identity within the discourse community. For students with little experience in academic communities, the struggle to develop an effective voice though which to 'speak' the discourse, whether in writing or in class, can be long and difficult. Yet, until they do, their grades suffer, since their progress can only be registered through speaking the discourse. Support in establishing voice is a vital component of courses for students from diverse backgrounds" (p.25). Other challenges = debate, apprenticeship through mastery (becoming/ moving through novice academic position).
Teaching in context of diversity: How can teachers create discursive environments to help students participate.
Appropriate discursive environment: multiple voices with multiple opportunities to get involved (in terms of content, comfort) through structured debate.
Appropriate target knowledge community: be clear about which knowledge community you are targeting - develop space for knowledge community of 'care practitioners' in course discussed.
Intermediate levels of discourse: through sustained discursive environment and multiple levels of participation, generative participation and appropriate assessment.
Core argument: "students need teachers who can provide opportunities for supported participation in the relevant knowledge community" (p.31).

Context: In the UK, it has been argued that students graduate from higher education lacking skills necessary for employment. Graduates of STEM disciplines in particular (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) have been described in public commentary as being unready for the world of work.
Aim: To fill a perceived gap in the literature where the authors report little empirical work has been done to analyse national quantitative data, with particular reference to the asserted hypothesis that "STEM graduates are, on average, less prepared for graduate employment than their peers who studied non-STEM subjects."
Hypothesis: Author's own hypothesis to be explored through examining publicly available data is in opposition to the public commentary; "Those entering the workforce and then returning for taught postgraduate study are primarily doing so due to underemployment in the period following graduation."
Methodology: Binary logistic regression of three large-scale national datasets from the UK including the results of the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education surveys.
Findings:
1). a range of educational, demographic and employment-based variables have a significant relationship with the propensity to return for taught postgraduate study;
2). returners tend to be high achievers from elite universities in low skill work after graduation, as well as women and those from minority ethnic communities, suggesting a mix of individual and structural factors;
3). STEM graduates were significantly less likely to return, challenging the argument advanced by some in the UK community that "STEM graduates are, on average, less prepared for graduate employment than their peers who studied non-STEM subjects."
Relevance to PGCW/ equity:
"...findings add weight to the contention that women and those from ethnic minority communities are finding and/or perceiving it difficult to compete on a level playing field; this feature appears particularly strong within STEM subjects."
Pedagogical intervention suggested? Not really.
Points to future research agenda?
1). Replicating study with access to SES data as it is noted as a potential factor that could not be included in the analysis
1). Better understanding why pre-1992 university graduates are nearly twice as likely to return than post-1992 university graduates given that these are historically institutions accepting more privileged students.
2).The samples reference also includes a large number of returners that do not fit the 'typical' profile. A more qualitative effort to understand the full range of factors and unpick the quantitative patterns would be a contribution to the field.

Context: Discourses around employability and the effective invisibilising of experiences of mature students (particularly those who have taken career breaks and are studying in order to return to work or change careers) through the implicit assumption that all graduates are young and inexperienced in terms of career. Underrepresentation of women in male-dominated sectors such as science, engineering and technology (SET) and the tendency for women with SET backgrounds to either never return or return to different fields after taking career breaks. The tenuous link between higher level qualifications and potential for employment as a result of the increase in the numbers of graduates.
Aim: To make the case for a life course perspective on employability, and for an explicit recognition of gender in employability initiatives within higher education. To examine three gendered factors (gender role normativity, locality and mobility, and structural and institutional barriers) identified as being of particular influence on outcomes of women graduates in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, who participated in a UK government-funded online programme aimed at supporting them to return to work.
Theoretical frame: Gender perspective/theory
Methodology: Longitudinal study of women from the UK and Ireland who participated in a 10 week online course for women aiming to return to their careers after a break, including a postal survey that was sent to 167 women in the longitudinal cohort - 23 of the 66 respondents were then interviewed by telephone (interviews took between 45 minutes and an hour each and were focused on career outcomes and impact of the course). Interview transcripts were analysed using a coding scheme adapted from McQuaid and Lindsay's Employability framework (2005) with the aim of identifying individual, personal and external factors that had contributed to career outcomes in the 5 year period since completing the course.
Findings: Majority of the women surveyed (71%) were working in a variety of jobs both within SET (79%) and in other fields. Most respondents found the course helpful in reentering work life. Most women had partners or husbands who worked full time and normative beliefs about gender and work roles were reflected in the gendered divisions of labour within households. "Locality and mobility were also important in shaping decisions about work, both in terms of geographical proximity of the work itself, but also (connected again to gendered domestic division of roles) the location of a partner's job, or of other extended family members for childcare support" and "Many of the women felt constrained by working norms within SET occupations where there were felt to be few opportunities for women to resume careers after a break, especially on a part-time or flexible work basis" (581). Three key strategies enabled successful returns to work: retraining, networking and undertaking low or unpaid work.
Core argument: Need for explicit recognition of gender in discussions about employability, particularly in relation to women's employment in male-dominated sectors such as science, engineering and technology, and explicitly including mature-aged women who return to work after career breaks.

Context: focuses on mature age students (25+) and compares 'the returns of education' for young and mature age graduates between 2001-2009. Questions the assumption that higher education brings returns to all students, especially mature age students. Works from context of rapid socioeconomic change and Bradley targets to expand higher education.
Aim: To "consider whether those who undertake university education at a later stage in their life enjoy similar rewards to those who transition directly from secondary school to university" (p.1635). Do mature age students get same levels of FT employment as younger graduates and does it have same effect on earnings?
Theoretical frame: Discusses human capital theory (based on assumption that personal investment in education delivers high personal returns because of increased productivity in labour market); rational choice theory = individuals are able to estimate probable returns on investment but are constrained by class position; subjective expected utility theory assumes that individuals will calculate future financial returns that will accrue from various educational options and then select the option that offers 'highest expected net utility' (all p.1637). Thus = assumption (based on 3 theories) that investment in education has direct and indirect costs and benefits for individuals, thus "mature-age students face substantial risks and costs in embarking on higher education" in terms of getting adequate/expected return on investment (p.1638).
Methodology: Quantitative/ statistical. Uses data from HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia; nine waves: 2001-2009). In 2001, 13969 people aged 15+ participated (representative of national population) and returns annually. This study used 3 points: year before graduation, year of graduation, and year after graduation (thus = between 2002-2008). Two dependent variables = employment status and earnings and five independent variables: sex; father's education; mother's education; age at graduation; and socio-economic status in the year before graduation
Findings:
Employment status
Year before graduation: 7% of younger group FT employed compared to 27% of older group
Year of graduation: 32% of younger group FT employed compared to 47% of older group
Year after graduation: 58% of younger group FT employed compared to 69% of older group

Year before graduation: 20% of younger group unemployed compared to 34% of older group
Year after graduation: 9% of younger group unemployed compared to 8% of older group\
Earnings
Effect is similar for both groups
Between Time 1-2, younger group had average increase in earnings by $169 per week. Between T2-3, younger group had increased earnings by $428 per week.
Between Time 1-2, mature group had average increase in earnings by $171 per week. Between T2-3, mature group had increased earnings by $465 per week.
One year after graduation, gender has no difference but it does in Yr 2 and 3 after graduation
Effect of age (privileging mature age) declines over time (by year 3 post-graduation = statistically significant difference between two groups), suggesting "the returns to education are lower for mature-age graduates
compared to younger graduates" (p.1645).
Summary: "Although mature-age graduates were more likely to reside in less-advantaged areas, be the first person in their family to attend university, and were less likely to be employed in the year before graduation, they were more likely to be employed on a full-time basis one year after graduation than younger graduates" (p.1644).
Core argument: Initially the returns of education = similar. Age is not a barrier: "age is not a barrier to improving one's human capital and enjoying the economic rewards of doing so" (p.1643), aligning with hypothesis of human capital theory

Context: Equity planning: based on idea that equity planning needs to be improved. Offers brief scope of historical-political context
Aims: To provide a 'structured context' for exploring participation of low SES students in Australian higher education, in terms of definitions, how they are identified and reasons for under-representation
Methodology: Essay, draws on previous research for strategies: Postle, Clarke & Bull (1997)
Discussion:
Measurement of SES: notes little international agreement on how to identify low SES - problems with all three traditional scales (parents' occupation, class, postcode). Also parents' education does not help with identifying mature age students' SES (also see arguments about postcode). Also, notes how different universities may recruit from different constituencies within a postcode (because = not homogenous locations).
Barriers to participation: financial barriers, including "the impact of limited flexibility or range of income sources; a lack of confidence in committing to significant debt (through HECS or other loans); a lack of financial support networks; or limitations in the ability to arrange relief from family or other responsibilities" (p.4); cultural differences (reproduces arguments that low SES families have lower aspirations), influence of schooling, limited awareness of HE. In 1994, NBEET produced a list of factors that impede low SES success in HE: "lack of time to study; underdeveloped or rusty learning skills; competing claims of employment or family; social isolation at university; and separation from familiar social networks" (p.5). Also notes intersection of multiple disadvantages (p.6).
Offers overview of institutional strategies in place:
- School links programs [aka outreach] as long established "means of recruitment" (p.7)
- Enabling programs: Postle, Clarke & Bull (1997) = reported that 23 universities had some form of enabling program in 1995 equity plans, but these were mostly small - only 7 had more than 100 EFTSU. Bridging programs for Indigenous students = 40% of enabling load.
- Special admissions schemes: e.g. RPL and non-traditional entry for specific groups (e.g. WINTA).
- Few universities surveyed in Postle, Clarke & Bull (1997) offered additional financial support to low SES students beyond routine arrangements
- Most universities offered some form of generic student support
Core argument: Implications for planning: need to improve measurement tools for identifying SES, more research on catchment, especially for regional universities, and more analysis of cohorts (tracking extent and pattern of retention, persistence and successful completion) + qualitative research to understand lived experience of factors of disadvantage. Equity planners need to set objectives regarding environmental/ contextual analysis and need to consider older (non-school leaving) students. Better evaluation and monitoring needed [still the case 17 years later!!] and better linkages need to be developed to make equity everyone's business.
Suggestions for universities:
- Improve low SES students' awareness (not just school links)
- Provide more financial support
- Expand 'bridging and remedial' programs and develop links with TAFE
- Consider role of technology

This blog post is part of the Gonski Institute for Education’s open access annotated bibliography (OAAB) series, a project led by Dr Sally Baker. OAABs offer a snapshot of some of the available literature on a particular topic. The literature is curated by a collective of scholars who share an interest in equity in education. These resources are intended to be shared with the international community of researchers, students, educators and practitioners. The literature has been organised thematically according to patterns that have emerged from a deep and sustained engagement with the various fields.

Context: Accommodation and proximity of the university to one's permanent abode are two important factors that go into the decision of selecting a university and succeeding while at university.
Aim: "The purpose of this research was to find out: (1) which transition and incorporation variables influence students' adaptation to university; (2) what the differences were between first-year students who lived on-campus in university residences and those who lived off-campus; and (3) if there were differences between first-year student groups depending on the distance between the university and the student's permanent home" (34).
Theoretical frame: Theories exploring the post-secondary student's adaptation to university, including Tinto's (1988) theory of student integration and "Rites of Passage" and Van Gennep's (1966) three distinct phases of movement (separation, transition and incorporation) that are involved in the separation from former environments and successful involvement in new environments. In opposition, Tierney's (1992) hierarchy of dominant cultures.
Methodology: Online survey through an email invitation sent to 3155 students. Research was cross-sectional in design and a convenience sample of first-year undergraduate students from two universities with multiple geographic locations was used. Analysis of the data consisted of a three-step process using separate statistical procedures: 1) constructs were assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, 2) linear regression was used to test the independent constructs to ascertain whether they influenced the dependent variable, namely, adapting to university and 3) to determine if significant differences existed, a test of significance between population means was conducted using an analysis of variance based on living accommodation while at university (on-campus vs. off-campus) and proximity between the university and permanent home (5-50 km vs. 51-500 + km).
Findings: Students who lived on-campus during the school term felt their transition to university was easy and were significantly more involved in extracurricular activities than those living off-campus. Living on-campus was found to increase commitment to the university and students were more likely to be committed to their university if separation was encouraged through a greater distance between the students' permanent home and the university. Students living on-campus and those with permanent homes farther away from the university generally utilized more university support than those in the off-campus grouping. Overall, students without easy access to their prior community made more progress in adapting to university than those students with easy access to their permanent home (45-46).
Core argument: Separation of students' living arrangements and distance from home impact on transition and incorporation variables, which influenced students' adaptation to university.

The Rural and Regional Education Project was undertaken by the UNSW Gonski Institute for Education in collaboration with its research partners.

The research aimed to explore how the NSW Department of Education can assist in lifting educational outcomes in regional, rural and remote schools.

The findings are based on data collected throughout 2020 and 2021. Research participants included principals, teachers, students, parents and community members as well as non-school-based departmental personnel and representatives of stakeholder groups.

Download the report:

Rural and Regional Education Project: Final Report

Context: Looks at 'school type effect' and predictive validity of aptitude testing v. GCSE results for Oxford University (UK) in context where 'underrepresented groups'/ less state schooled students enter Oxbridge (see Sutton Trust, 2004; 2007)
Aim: To examine impact of school type on gaining first degree at Oxford University; to compare the predictive power of an aptitude test and GCSEs and Oxford Admissions Study data
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Quantitative: statistical analysis of "predictive validity of secondary school grades and aptitude test scores in the achievement of first class degrees by school type, across arts and science subjects at
Oxford University" (p.784)
Findings: Private school students perform less well than state school students, "but they do not under perform relative to their aptitude test scores or in gross terms" (abstract). Analysis suggests that 'teaching effect' is a key cause for differences across school types
Core argument: Key point: "the school type effect at Oxford University is likely to be driven by short-term teaching effects upon the secondary school grades of private school students" (p.802).

Context: 'Second chance education'/ TAFE-sponsored programs (Skills for All) in South Australia + social justice/ equity agenda. UniSA did the evaluation of the programs
Aim: To "investigate the experiences and the perceptions of program participants and service providers on the effectiveness of the programs in terms of their reported strengths and weaknesses, and their failure and/or success in long term educational and employment pathways" (p.43).
Methodology: Evaluation: focus groups/ interviews with program participants (n=37)/ service providers (n=8) + participant observation.
Findings:
Program 1: Blokes on the Block, later Blokes and Beauties on the Block
Program 2: Word@Work
Program 3: Building Better Communities Program
Program 4: Powerful Pathways for Women (all see p.45-6)
Participant characteristics: "targeted disadvantaged individuals disengaged from the workforce" (p.47), many of whom had complex social challenges (substance abuse, mental health issues), low levels of literacy and numeracy, and were from dysfunctional family backgrounds. Service providers recognized need to tailor programs to support needs of students, and that they needed long(er)-term support. Participants had varying motivations for attending the course (interest, wanting to improve employability, personal development).
Participants' experiences: all participants offered positive feedback about the programs, and reported making friends = "often the most memorable aspects for participants" (p.48).
Role of service providers: Positive feedback about the service providers. Some programs offered mentoring beyond the life of the program = important ongoing connection
Core argument:
Success of programs = "a sustained holistic approach underpinned by customised, collaborative and contextualised learning" (p.51); tailored and flexible approaches; social supports and networks; innovative approaches to training (including purposeful activities, rather than inauthentic trials)

Context: Op/Ed: UK, post Browne report 2010 (which allowed universities to charge up to GBP9000 per year (which almost all English universities did). Browne proposed state funding should cease for taught Masters courses and not extending proposed UG support package to PG students. Universities recognised the threat before the government and have highlighted its possible impact on the future of academia.
Highlights: While PG student numbers appeared to have increased slightly, a significant proportion of Masters students were international (only 70 out of 3825 PG Engineering students were domestic in 2008). Funding for PG scheme for teachers was scrapped; fees for PG study increased in line with UG fees in 2012
Relevance to PGCW/ equity: Privately educated students are more likely to undertake PG study; Alan Milburn (English politician; Labour) suggested that lack of funding for PG had serious implications for 'social mobility'. Massification of HE = "postgraduate study is an increasingly important social sorting mechanism". Support for PG study is "hit or miss" - financial support available is inconsistent (studentships/career development loans); some are sponsored by employers; some self-fund. State subsidy for PG study proposed at time of writing would disadvantage students' capacity to self-fund. Rationale for removing subsidy based on increased earning potential students would get (but see Whitty's critique of this assumption).
Pedagogical intervention suggested? None
Points to future research agenda? Future of funding of PG study (suggestions include: flexibility in payment arrangements, employers should make greater contribution to costs, for key practice-based professions, the state could act as an 'employer', one-stop shop for information.