Higher Education Equity Literature Database

Context: Works from notion that R&R students have less access to HE and are more likely to undertake VET programs (possibly as pathway to HE). Works from research that suggests using VET as substitute for HE = puts R&R students at disadvantage (see Lee and Coeli, 2010). Differentiates between apprenticeship programs and non-apprenticeship programs in VET. Tertiary system is taken to mean VET and HE. Works from post-Bradley context (unified tertiary education system). Sets out arguments about school completion rates in rural Australia and quality of secondary education: cites research that shows completion rates between metro and rural/regional students have increased, despite completion rates improving overall. One issue raised in senate hearing into R&R education = issue of recruiting teachers. NAPLAN results suggest that 'quality' in R&R areas is lower than in metro areas. Committee also heard R&R students have lower aspirations for HE [this is resolutely challenged in literature]. Author navigates R&R aspirations literature and concludes, "despite regional students' strong aspirations for higher education, both real and perceived barriers and a lack of shared enthusiasm for their goals may lead many students to compromise those goals" (p.22). Author makes claims about gendered pathways: "The favourable labour market outcomes (employment status and earnings) from apprenticeships for males are good news in an otherwise concerning pattern of tertiary participation by regional and rural youth. However, for females, completion of Year 12 followed by a degree is the only clearly effective pathway, and this pathway is less readily available to regional and rural youth" (p.23-4)
Aim: To analyse LSAY data to explore the extent to which VET is used as substitute for HE by rural youth and to examine models of cooperation between tertiary institutions. Poses 5 questions:
1. What proportions of metropolitan and rural youth plan to enter higher education, VET or undertake no post-school study?
2. What are the occupational aspirations of young people, taking into account location and SES?
3. What proportions of metropolitan and rural youth enter higher education, VET or undertake no post-school study?
4. To what extent do well-qualified rural youth enter VET rather than higher education?
5. For those who enter VET, what are the levels of the qualifications they undertake?
Theoretical frame: None
Methodology: Uses 2003 LSAY data (school going, aged 15)
Findings:
One-third of students in regional locations and two-fifths of those in rural or remote locations are from families in the lowest SES quartile.
R&R = less likely to have one parent or more born overseas (which includes English language speaking countries). Authors points to differences in aspirations: more metro students aspired to complete Year 12 (90% compared to 86%); 20% of metro students intend to stop education at Year 12 compared with 33.3% of R&R. 66.4% of metro aspire to HE compared with 50% of R&R. Taking the three levels of VET qualifications together, 12.5% of metropolitan, 18.1% of regional and 20.6% of rural or remote students aspire to undertake VET study but this does not compensate for lower university aspirations. Two thirds metro and half R&R aspire towards professional careers. In NAPLAN, R&R students are under-represented in top achievement quartile.
R&R students = more likely to undertake VET studies than metro students
Metro Reg Rural Total
Lower certificate 9.5 14.9 16.7 11.0
Higher certificate 14.0 20.6 19.4 15.8
Diploma 10.4 6.2 2.8 9.2
All VET 33.9 41.7 38.9 36.0
(p.31)
Core argument: R&R students have high aspirations for post-school study and work but are lower than for metro youth. R&R students have lower participation rates in HE but higher participation rates in VET; "Participation in VET programs may not be an effective alternative to university study, as the level of VET programs taken by non-metropolitan students is typically lower than that taken by metropolitan youth, and lower-level VET qualifications have rather modest returns" (p.32). Quality of school education in non-metro areas is a concern and is essential for post-school transitions.

Context: National context of widening participation initiatives since 2008, including targets for under-represented groups including low-SES students, has prompted universities to consider strategies to recruit and support 'equity' students; enabling education is one of these strategies. This paper provides reflection on the establishment and operation of the University of New England's (UNE) Pathways Enabling Program (PEP), which was established in 2008 owing to this broader national context. It represents UNE's first engagement with enabling education, although UNE's profile is such that it already attracts a higher than average proportion of low SES students. The PEP is an online one-year, part-time, fee-free pathway program that embeds tertiary literacies within academic university style learning, and also offers non-academic support to students. Successful completion facilitates student transition into UNE undergraduate study in "most" programs.
Aim: To report on the key features of the PEP and to examine and compare the success, retention and progress of students entering university via the PEP pathway compared to those entering via high school qualifications.
Methodology: The paper posits itself to be a "reflection", informed by a variety of institutional measures of student experience ("student reflection activities, informal feedback and standard unit evaluations instruments." [n.p.]). 1,096 new students enrolled in PEP from 2008-10, which forms the foundation of this data set.
Findings: The PEP structure is a combination of academic electives drawn from first year undergraduate with core foundational skills units that are designed to orient students to the practices and knowledge of higher education. This includes pragmatic understandings of IT and computer and system literacy, alongside skills of critical thinking and academic writing, for example. Assessment structures are also based on this divide, with foundational core units offering supportive, formative and "non-threatening" assessment alongside academic units that assess in alignment with undergraduate university policy. The profile of students comprises mature aged students returning to study and recent school leavers who have not attained a sufficient entry mark to commence their preferred undergraduate pathway. Typically, these students have had prior negative educational experiences and have family and work commitments outside of their study. 30% (96) of PEP students successfully completed the program and enrolled in UG studies. The success and performance of these students in their undergraduate studies was comparable to those students entering from high school. Student feedback from this cohort identifies that PEP is perceived as beneficial to them. The attrition rate for PEP students is around 57% - higher than undergraduate student attrition rates, but comparable to that in other enabling programs. Part of this attrition may be positive attrition, that is, a conscious decision on the part of student to not explore higher education further, but this is not explored in relation to the data.
Core argument: In this case study, students entering into undergraduate study from an enabling pathway have similar levels of progress and success when compared to those entering via a 'traditional' high school leaver pathway. Enabling pathways such as that offered by the UNE PEP are effective mechanisms of entry into undergraduate pathways for their cohorts. However, attrition rates are high, and work needs to be done to understand whether the causes are distinctive and what interventions are appropriate for this cohort.

Context: Looks at Diploma of Foundation Studies (DFS) at Monash - began in 1999 as 1 year, FT program (regional equity and access scheme = at Gippsland Campus - see Munro, 2012). Student performance translated into ENTER (Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank). All DFS students have low ENTER = 'at risk' for UG study. "The objective of this program is to equip students with the necessary academic skills and tertiary literacy to progress to studying full degrees. These skills include: effective use of lectures and tutorials; conducting research and developing research strategies; effective engagement with the university's online student interface; essay writing; referencing ideas; exam preparation; thinking critically; problem-solving; project development; and effective communication" (p.130). Program growth (23 in 1999 to 110 in 2003). All applicants = short interview prior to starting DFS. No guarantee of entry on basis of completing DFS/ Students receive advance standing credit for between 4-8 units, depending on destination program
Methodology: Description of program/ reporting of student data
Description: Core unit = Understanding University Learning - students explicitly unpack assumptions and expectations about transition into tertiary study. This module has longer tutorials and smaller class sizes ('ess-threatening'). Only selected staff teach into 3/4 core subjects
Student outcomes: 283 students between 2000-2003 = 45% completed/passed all units; of these student, over 70% offered place and 45% got into UG program. Aggregate retention into Year 2 = 77%
Extended discussion of entrance scores (p.134-139)
Core argument: ENTER =not reliable guide/ predictor of academic success or student performance

Context: The paper draws on findings from a study of a near peer, pre-entry coaching programme to address the dearth of studies on the 'success' of care-experienced young people in Higher Education (HE) internationally. The HE Champions Coaching Programme grew out of the desire among a small group of Widening Participation (WP) practitioners to improve opportunities for 'success' amongst Looked After Children (LAC) in HE, as they are often additionally disadvantaged than other students.
Aim:
Theoretical framework: Not specified in study.
Methodology: Data collection took place in two stages, involving multiple methods and perspectives.
31 participants at Stage 1: young people, n = 5; coaches, n = 8; key adults, n = 12; trainers, n = 6.
31 participants at Stage 2 (not necessarily all the same individuals): young people, n = 6; coaches, n = 12; key adults, n = 8; trainers and other adults involved in programme delivery, n = 5.
Stage 1: Questionnaire completed by young people participating in the programme, young people recruited by coaches, trainers who led the programme and Key Adults based in Local Authorities
Stage 2: Telephone interview for trainers and adults involved in development & delivery of programme; focus groups and collaborative mind-mapping for young people and coaches.
Additional data collected via observation of key events.
Findings:
Key Adults' concerns around a lack of success in HE which led to development of intervention:
a)gaps in support & knowledge for LAC at the pre-entry phase, leading to wrong choice of programmes or institutions
b)financial issues
c)difficulties with social integration
d)challenges for those in the role of corporate parent: difficulty establishing & utilizing lines of communication to ensure continuity of care, varying confidence in own capacity to fill knowledge gap, a sense of powerlessness
d)university admission processes do not consider differences in levels of support for students applying to HE
Opportunities for learning created by the HE programme:
a)acquisition of new knowledge in key areas (including how to identify the point of contact for LAC at a university; types of financial support available; social aspects of HE such as the nightlife and music scene)
b)connecting past with futures: repositioning the past led to 'empowerment of the young people and a rejection of anything deterministic' (p. 960)
c)involvement of coaches: seemed to promote and mirror future success of LAC; reciprocal benefits for coaches (some who are care-experienced themselves)
Core argument: The programme highlights how 'a collaboration across stakeholder groups that builds on informed understandings of a common challenge can drive the development of innovative solutions to a complex problem' (p. 962). However, the programme also exemplifies the risk that the necessity of evidencing 'success' might foster more reductive approaches, less suited to the particular needs and circumstances of individual LAC.

Context: Examines the 40% target set in the Bradley Review/ Transforming Australia's Higher Education System. Authors argue that 40% target is in tune with increases in professional occupations with UG degrees and holds with Access Economics predictions, meaning that more young people need to enter higher education (or hope for increase in immigration or mass further education for older workers). Authors note that no modelling done of how target could be met (based on figures from Europe) and was adopted wholesale without any further testing/modelling. In Victorian context, need to increase student enrolments by 10-12,000 per year until 2025 to meet 40% target. However, other ABS data (from 'Education and Work' labour survey) suggested a larger proportion of 25-34 had degrees by 2009 (34.6%) so meeting 40% target wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
Aim: To probe how quickly domestic enrolments need to increase/ by when for 40% target be achievable.
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Uses ABS modelling of population increases and immigration growth. Develop new modelling to test Go8 position (no need to do anything; target will be met 'naturally' - see p.17)
Discussion: Authors' modelling accounts for age of graduates (time lag around completion/ ageing out = when graduate hits 35 yoa). Based on this modelling/evidence, growth in domestic UG enrolments has not made much difference, accounting for barely _ of increase between 2006-9. Authors suggest that overseas students (domestic via migration) may aid achievement of target (settlers on permanent/ 457 visas or NZ citizens). Ageing out happens more quickly/often for migrants (50% migrants are 30yoa+). Based on modelling, net gain of migrants = likely to decline. Also need to account for net loss of residents as they move overseas ('brain drain')
Core argument: 40% target is not feasible. There was a rapid rise in enrolments from 2006-2009 but this is not a predictor of future increases and achievement of 40% target because of domestic students ageing out and immigration not matching the rate of expansion needed.

Context: Works from positioning of novelty in Australian context (but see O'Shea's body of work)
Aim: To test hypotheses:
(a) FIF students would come from lower socio-economic backgrounds than non-FIF students, and
(b) FIF students would have lower levels of achievement than non-FIF students (p.34)
Theoretical frame: Psychological
Methodology: 'Exploratory and descriptive'. Survey (n=211; 54% of whom = FinF) students from education, nursing and 'liberal arts' (online). 86.3% = female; median age of 25; 2,2% = Indigenous; 6.2% = NESB. Survey = demographic, course/ study information, student experiences and well-being, open-ended questions on experiences. Used The Mental Health Inventory-five (MHI-5) and The Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991).
Findings:
No clear relationship between SES and FinF
FinF students have poorer academic outcomes than their counterparts, particularly after Year 1 when all scaffolded transition support finished
FinF students = more likely to seek support
Possible reasons suggested: focus on 'first year experience', lack of skill in being self-regulated and self-directed learners (based on 'Hope scores'), social networks (not clearly linked to data). If FinF prefer more personalised support, too bad: "there may be difficulties in an era characterised by the intensification of academic work" (p.40) and "It may be that FIF students have been socialised into working class interdependent norms and that they bring these norms to university, experiencing a clash of culture in the help-seeking process" (p.41).
Core argument: Need to encourage FinF to develop better social networks (inexpensive and sustainable solution that passes most responsibility onto student)

Context: Explores student-equity policy and practice in Queensland in two universities (one is UQ, the other a smaller/newer metro QLD university) and including the Queensland consortium, focusing on low SES students. Makes point - drawing on Bourdieu - that in the contested field of academia, there will always be elite/isolated institutions and less autonomous/more networked institutions - this is rationale for choice of case study institutions - but the creation of a state-wide consortium suggests possibility of collaborative practices and enactments of policy. HEPPP encourage(s/d) competitive market for low SES students.
Aim: To trace the activation and appropriation of student-equity across different stakeholders in one state of Australia
Theoretical frame: Draws on Bourdieu's conceptual tool of the contested field
Methodology: Employs Smith's (2005) institutional ethnography "to map how student-equity workers' local practices are articulated and aligned, via the locally produced policy statements of the Group, to federally established social inclusion targets for each university and to the accomplishment of ruling neoliberal policy relations established by the federal government" (p.379). Key = tracing the coordination of activities to 'ruling relations' = capitalist societies, which are "text-mediated" systems of communication, knowledge, information, regulation
Findings: The consortium split up the schools in the state and assigned them to universities - working to negate the negative impact of competition - but left a clause in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that permitted competition [poaching] when a student expressed interest in a university outside of the 'catchment' area their school fell in. Discusses the enactments of student-equity policy - partnership component of HEPPP:
- UQ: restricted their outreach to Year 10-12 and some outreach in Year 8-9 (but much smaller), No primary school outreach. UQ based equity outreach on targeting 'best and brightest' low SES students (but did not change entrance requirements; hence forcing low SES students to adapt - see p.388). UQ were keen to shift their mix of students, rather than grow (because they were in process of reducing UG numbers and increasing PG numbers)
- 'Dawson': engaged in outreach from Year 6-12 (aka: primary and secondary) and engaged in this work so as to "grow strongly"
The UQ consortium were able to collectively appropriate federal policy in 5 ways:
1) Chair of the Group advocated for more collaborative, non-competitive funding which impacted on final HEPPP guidelines
2) Government encouraged remaining states/territories to collaborate similarly to QLD consortium
3) The Group was consulted on key elements of HEPPP, such as being able to move participation funding into partnership funds
4) Despite indigenous students not being part of HEPPP (because ISP offers separate funding), the Group made this a part of their (successful) bid and thus refracted/ reappropriated policy to suit indigenous students/ units
5) Due to cooperation, most of partnership funding went to regional universities [who are perhaps less competitive than Go8s/research intensive universities??]
Core argument: Tension in both case study universities around outreach/widening participation practices and recruitment (made clear in UQ's persistent poaching of 'best and brightest' from Dawson's school pool). In the context described (UQ consortium), collaborative equity practice is OK as long as it doesn't challenge the status quo: " Cooperative student-equity practices amongst universities become strained, however, where there is a potential change in the allocation of academic and reputational capital within the field and a disturbance to the existing institutional hierarchy of the field" (p.390)

Context: UK
Aim: Explore the experiences of refugee background students, particularly considering that they are not targeted as a specific equity group and tend to be homogenised regardless
- 1) Establish the aspirations of young refugees to access higher education, and whether these are supported; 2) identify barriers to accessing higher education; 3) examine whether homogenising their support needs within those provided for other minority ethnic groups is sufficient
Method:
- Mixed-method qualitative/quantitative (surveys, interviews) with organisations that support refugees and refugees themselves
Findings:
- Refugee background students face specific issues that affect their educational achievements, including interrupted education, experience of trauma, concern about their status (also access based on that?) and English language difficulties
- Education has an inherent value to many minority ethnicity groups, more so than white populations. High level of aspiration.
- Because many of the disadvantages experienced by refugee background students are shared with other groups, their educational support needs have historically been subsumed within general programs for underachieving groups: but, their needs are often significantly worsened than those other groups, and they also have separate and distinct support needs
- Resilience: "First, while many refugees and asylum seekers are resilient, resourceful and refuse to see themselves as victims or ask for support, others need more substantial and longer term pastoral and emotional care (whether they recognize this themselves or not)." (p.676)
- Choices and information/advice: Many refugees are not accessing "available educational support services, they are making educational choices without access to advice and guidance, which can adversely affective their subsequent ability to access higher education. Organizations were aware of mistakes refugees had made when selecting GCSE or further education choices which effectively prevented them from progressing to their career of choice or subsequent courses...." (677)
Implications:
- Homogenising the support needs of young refugees along with those of other ethnic minority students is both inappropriate and insufficient and the continued failure to focus on them as a specific widening participation group will perpetuated their continued absence from the UK higher education system
- Advice/Support: "We have shown high levels of aspiration amongst young refugees. Therefore, their continued under-achievement and under-representation in UK higher education represents a failure by educational institutions and support services to provide adequate guidance and a lack of understanding of their needs and aspirations..." (685)
- Seems to emphasise resilience as part of this aspirations focus, but then recognises the role of poor advice/guidance/support models

Context: Exclusion of asylum seekers from higher education in Australia; author argues this reflects current day Australia. Set in context of internationally unprecedented numbers of refugees travelling across the world. "Hardened attitudes towards refugees and those seeking asylum have significant implications for Australia, which was formerly seen as a responsible and compassionate international citizen" (p.1). Outlines offshore/ onshore humanitarian program (and critique of offshore detention). Focuses on legacy caseload and the continued 'tough stance' on 'illegal' asylum seekers, pandering to socially conservative politicians and voters. The compassionless system is distinct from previous times when Australia opened its borders to Vietnamese and Chinese in need (see p.3). Outlines the options for legacy case load - released from community detention on Bridging Visa E, which no longer offers a pathway to permanency. People seeking asylum can choose from a Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) or a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV), which last between 3-5 years, and then PAS need to apply for another visa. These visas offer different levels of access to healthcare and welfare, and the right to work. Author argues that "educational issues certainly get lost" (p.3). Author compares Australia and Canada - Canada resettles a far greater number of people. Author characterises Australia's approach to asylum seekers as "system-level deliberate exclusion" (p.5), supported by nationalistic behaviours and mindsets. In reference to the metaphors propagated by politicians and in the media, White writes "The more embedded a metaphor becomes in our language, the more invisible and subtle its effect can become" (p.5).
Aim:
Theoretical frame: Hannah Arendt's theory of the banality of evil - evil as unquestioning and uncritical ordinariness
Methodology: Essay
Discussion:
Educational exclusion - has received little attention. RCoA figures estimate approximately 7000 of the legacy case load were between 18-25, and would-by virtue of their age and recent experiences of schooling-would therefore likely want to access higher education. Paradox = they are considered to be international students: "Despite individual students earning places at government funded universities because of their performance in the Australian school and examination systems, enrolment is not possible because of bureaucratic and political imperatives" (p.7). Hirsch & Maylea (2016) argue that, while Australia is not alone in its policy of not including PAS in higher education schemes (e.g. HELP/ CSP), they are alone in deliberately doing this as a deterrent to others thinking about coming to Australia.

"Excluding all but the fortunate few, who receive charitable scholarships from higher education institutions, means that the trajectory for the majority of these students is predetermined. Destined to a precarious existence and limited economic security is a high price for individual young people to pay. And as the vast majority of them will eventually be processed and become Australian citizens, over a period of about 10 years, what will this mean for Australia in the longer term? This motivated group of capable students continues to be denied hope and the chance to envisage futures for themselves, for no discernible reason" (p.10).
Core argument: Australia's asylum seeker policy is supported by normative uncritical thinking and rule following, administered through bureaucracy and processes, which can be read as the banality of evil (Arendt). "This banality - predictability, ordinariness, dullness, unoriginality - embraces the compromised politicians, the compliant officials, the complicit media as well as the complacent and uncritical amongst the rest of us" (p.9).

Context: African women migrants who are not necessarily refugees in Australian tertiary education - opens with critique of lack of representation on non-refugee African women in Australia (e.g., Aus Human Rights Commission report, 2010). Some African Australian (AA) students experience minimal/ no problems at university (contrary to popular depictions of AA/ refugee students) - notes that the classed aspect of experience may be more impactful than ethnicity [however, it is also true that some could be related to issues connected to ethnicity]
Aim: To offer "a snapshot of some African Australian women in attendance at Australian universities" and a "more nuanced view" (p.184), so as to depict a broader and more diverse view of African Australian women in higher education
Methodology: 10 x AA women interview (by authors + 2 x Sudanese Australian women) in Victoria. Participants aged 18-38 (9 = Aus citizens, less than 10 years in Australia, 3/10 = married; 4/10 = mothers). Interviews = demographic details, education and equity in childhood, meaning of tertiary education, gains and losses due to university education. Thematic analysis. Five case studies presented
Findings:
Experiences of lack of unity in Sudanese community because of studying at university, especially for women
Impact on self-image/ self-concept
Increased confidence with English = increased independence
University = release from boredom and escape from mundaneity
Sense of liminality (tall black woman in white male environment of Law School)
No acknowledgement of living at "the interstices of two cultures" at university - education leads to isolation: "cultural expectations exist in tension with individual education and career goals" (p.197)
University = means to freedom
Higher education leads to guilt
University can help to provide role models/ there are a lack of role models of AA women in higher education
Conclusions: Within label of 'AA' = depicted as homogenous; authors illustrate some of the heterogeneity of group. Although higher education offers benefits, there are "gendered complexities of balancing personal, familial and cultural responsibilities and needs" (p.198). Pedagogic responses:
- "formalised schemes to support their enrolment and retention, such as mentoring programs,
- African and women student networks,
- study groups, and
targeted intercultural initiatives" (p.198-9 = not in bullets in text)

Aim: To challenge the deficit framing of low SES students having a 'lack of aspiration' and to explore how low SES students "imagine and articulate their aspirations to HE and their broader understandings of the 'good life'" (p.164).
Theoretical frame: Draws on Appadurai's 2004 notion of 'capacity to aspire' and use navigate aspirational maps (with aspiration framed as a cultural capacity rather than individual motivational trait (p.164); Ball & Vincent's 1998 theory of 'hot' and 'cold' knowledge and Bourdieu's tools of field/capital/habitus. "...aspirations are complex understandings of the future pathways available to people" (p.164).
Methodology: Semi-structured interviews with middle year students (11-12 years of age) in a low SES school in 'rustbelt' S.A. Four students, teacher, school counsellor and principal were interviewed. Students did short survey with families for sociocultural contextual information. Photos of significant locations in life-worlds also collected.
Findings: Students' attitudes and dispositions = heterogeneous and preferred futures are optimistic and hopeful (p.166). Transgenerational experiences, access to information networks beyond the local community and academic achievement at school are all important contributory factors in students' capacity to navigate educational pathways. Low SES students "must often actively seek beyond their families and local communities for information about HE" (p.171) In one interview, a teacher raises/acknowledges the tension between students' aspirations and a 'lack' of requisite academic capacities: "it's like making them do a play without a script" (p.175)
Core argument: A more complex theorisation of aspiration needed beyond simplistic low v. high dichotomies; "homogeneous notions of populations and place do not provide sufficiently nuanced descriptions of the aspirations, achievement levels and capacities of students and families in these areas" (p.176).
Interesting fact: This paper was written by Bok who was a B(Ed) student at the time as a result of a NCSEHE summer school scholarship

Context: Neoliberal shape of higher education, rise of market logics in higher education governance; women's experiences of senior leadership/ management in universities. Authors argue that although the discourse is one of merit, this conceals the hegemony of male subjectivities and logics: "The highly individualised capitalist-inspired entrepreneurialism that is at the heart of the new academy (Slaughter and Leslie 2001) has allowed old masculinities to remake themselves and maintain hegemonic male advantage" (p.192). Expectations of performance assume care-less subjects. Authors argue that higher education institutions were less able to resist neoliberal technologies of governance and measurement in the ways that (more highly unionized) schools were able.
Aim: To "demonstrate how the market model of education has impacted on both the definition and practice of senior managerial appointments in the higher education sector in Ireland. In particular, it examines the gendered impact of these changes in relation to care, as neo-liberal values of individualism and performativity dominate senior management cultures" (p.192).
Theoretical frame: Feminist scholarship; takes view of neoliberalism that assumes the citizen = rational economic actor (REA) and conceals/ denies the affective and caring dimensions of work/ practice/ experience. While framed by discourses of choice and merit, neoliberal modes mean that "the only senior managers who can succeed in the so-called meritocratic system within higher education are those who can devote themselves relentlessly to their occupational life" (p.194). Managers = 'care commanders' rather than 'care foot-soldiers' (p.194)
Methodology: Case studies of seven senior appointments (VC, President, Vice-President, Provost, Director: 3 =m, 4 =f) in universities, colleges and other educational institutions (including applicants, assessors). Case studies examined appointment process
Findings: Analysis of case studies reveals "profound differences" between male and female participants' accounts of care in context of their roles.
- Women spoke at length about care/ impact of care responsibilities on their work
- Men mentioned care in passing, if at all
- "While women in the higher education sector could not ignore care work, especially in the private sphere, men could and did" (p.195)
- Assumption amongst male participants that 'gender was not an issue'; however, contradictions = evident in acknowledgement of smaller pool of female applicants by male assessors: "Most male assessors were blind to the gender-specific impact of care work and did not recognise how the family and care status of women impacted on women's decision to apply for a senior management post in the first instance" (p.196).
- In contrast, female assessors = "acutely aware of structural and cultural constraints on women's choices" (p.196), reflected in the ways that job adverts were written (in ways that tacitly disadvantages women with caring responsibilities).
- All underpinned by assumption that caring (e.g. career breaks) = appropriate moral choice for women, but didn't make up for less experience.
- Women experience harm at hands of two greedy institutions: the academy and the family/ home. Women = delay children or don't have children (see p.199); one participant shared her observation that many women who have a baby after a PhD limit their opportunities (because of temporary positions/ lack of research track).
- Perception = taking time out for childcare reasons indicates a lack of commitment to profession, which was corroborated by female participants who "felt that their childcare responsibilities had to remain invisible in their career; leading them to try to compete equally with those who had no caring responsibilities" (p.197).
- Male managers "defined care-related decisions, including pregnancy and jobsharing, as a woman's choice" (p.199).
- No male senior managers reported playing a role in their childcare situations
- Male senior appointees rarely mentioned care in their discussion of their careers.
- Female appointees more likely to mention the importance of a supportive partner/ person than male appointees, or that having no caring responsibilities was a fundamental factor in one participant's trajectory.
- Female participants = saw themselves as primary carer.
- Most men saw themselves as secondary rather than primary carer (who was the wife/ female partner)
- Working in senior management = big time commitment, with limited boundaries between work and personal time; "Only care commanders could live a life where there was no boundary between paid work and personal life" (p.202)
Core argument: For women, there is "a 'care' ceiling derived from women's caring work in the home, built from the strong moral imperative on women to be primary carers, an imperative that does not apply equally to men" (p.204)

Context: Editorial for SI in BJSE. Argues that universities are trapped in a national/international competition fetish, which is underpinned by "'master economic imaginary' of the knowledge economy"- fuelled by intensified "struggle for positional advantage", increased global mobility and demand for highly skilled knowledge workers (p.1). 'Fetish' = "describe an irrational belief in magical powers which are invested in an object to protect from harm or to make wishes come true" - seen as a panacea to all the academy's ills. Paper describes varieties of competition; animator = whatever (material, social, psychological) breathes life into competition. Geo-political rivalry: belief that increasing number of graduates will improve country's prospects in global knowledge economy = links higher education to policies regarding national competition/innovation. Global competition = not an even playing field and is channelled in particular ways (Naidoo, 2011)
Animators: 1) neoliberal/marketised discourses and practices: "Deregulation, the influx of for-profit organisations and increased quasi market competition between and across national higher education systems have all become features of the higher education landscape" (p.2) - global commodification, shifts in rewards and sanctions, rise of market logics. All these consequences jar with traditional notions/ ontologies/ epistemologies of higher education.
Introduces paper (Li & Lowe) which argues that universities are being pulled into an international 'war for talent' - resulting in negative consequences for social justice. The paper by Kim focuses on transnational occupational prospects, global mobility and trajectories of Korean students - looking at how a qualification from powerful western institutions offers different opportunities depending on where the student is/comes from. Mok's paper looks at attempts in East Asia to widen participation.
Brogger's paper looks at affective politics of competitive measurement and ranking - examining the Bologna Process and 'Open Method of Coordination' (standardisation across EU) - with strong affective drivers pushing competitive practices (fear of shame, thrill of success)
Government sponsored competition (aka 'excellence' policies) "which involve deliberate strategies to develop or enhance vertical strat-ification in national systems" (p.5) - core aim is to identify 'world class' universities and use as leverage to gain positional advantage: see the paper by Olssen on the UK's REF (draws on Foucault's notion of neoliberalism as positive form of state power) and finds that the REF encourages 'dubious' tactics and strategies for gaining competitive advantage. Olssen also documents some of the consequences - such as devaluation of the Humanities and repackaging of research in "market-friendly ways". Morley and Crossouard's paper looks at how HE leadership is being aligned with performative and competitive spaces (looks at South Asia). They find that people are positioned/ position themselves as 'winners or losers' as result of active encouragement of competition and that leaders work to ensure that "the discursive and material realities of competition are installed and accepted" (p.6). The article by David shows how rankings and league tables have been used to justify HE-economic policies, such as deregulation, privatisation and increased fees. David argues that there is little statistical evidence to warrant particular rankings, instead discursive mechanisms do this work of creating an "illusory threat of global competition through which threat is used to warrant neoliberal policies" (p.6).

"A theme that appears throughout this special issue is the role of competition in reinforcing old hierarchies and channelling new forms of inequality both within and across national higher education systems (Naidoo 2011)" (p.7). Competition serves to "legitimise inequitable outcomes" (p.7). Competition is often binary, thus hiding/ ignoring the holistic performance, simplifying complex phenomena and engaging in decontextualisation that "cloaks the diversity of higher education" (p.7).

"The competition fetish has the potential to colonise epistemic and professional frameworks. Because it is tied to reputational and financial rewards, it directs attention to what is deemed important and deflects attention away from what is not. The effect is that it begins to shape relationships and values - to the extent that there needs to be a constant adjustment to the values that competition brings in its wake. In this way, competition stipulates what is valued, what is de-valued and what is simply irrelevant. In other words, competition as a framework engages those working in higher education in a struggle to define the very worth of higher education" (p.7).

Context: Set within the context where questions regarding how different nations construct and maintain inequality are crucial, even as nations continue to employ OECD data in ensuring preparedness to be globally competitive.
Aim: To argue that 'social capital continues to perpetuate social inequality both prior to and during university attendance despite decades of WP policy in the US and UK' (abstract) by drawing on a nested case study of 30 under-represented students in three universities across the US, England and Scotland respectively.
Theoretical framework: Social capital (Bourdieu, 1973; Savage, 2015).
Methodology: Essay.
Discussion: 1)The reproduction of social inequalities through HE: a) Social class & forms of capital - Theory of inequality in social capital is underpinned by two principles: i)social capital inequality is evident when specific groups are clustered in 'disadvantaged socio-economic positions' (p. 2); ii) individuals have the tendency to 'stay close to their own socioeconomic backgrounds' (Lin, 2000, p. 786); Bourdieu (1973): Social hierarchies which are 'reproduced as academic hierarchies fulfil the perpetuation of social order' (p. 2); b)The construction of the underrepresented student in the US, England & Scotland - HE landscape in the US, UK & Scotland has transformed over the last 40 years in the following aspects: 'institutions available to students, the importance of institutional reputation, variations in financing education, and who constitutes a typical university student' (p. 3) (David, 2007); in each country: the groups of students either under- or over- represented in particular types of institutions vary; despite the implementation of WP policy, elite universities in the US & UK appear to be falling behind less prestigious or established institutions in the number of underrepresented students recruited/accepted; 2)Three international cases: Great Lakes University (US), South Hadrian University (England), and Antonine University (Scotland) - a) Great Lakes University: Enrolment of approximately 30,000 undergraduate students, with 15% of underrepresented students; Two significant themes from 12 student interviews: 'family pressure' & 'ability to create social networks' (p. 5); a) Family pressure - varying levels of social & family pressure experienced by the 12 students (5 students felt pressured to attend HE; 3 students mentioned how their family 'contributed to a lack of educational expectations' (p. 7); b)Creating social networks at university - All students, except for one participated in student support programmes & social activities (eg: fraternities, sororities & multicultural student centre); all students joined activities which aligned with their cultural backgrounds, creating a 'separation from the majority'(p. 8) of the student population; Lin (2000) - clustering of groups lead to social capital inequality; underrepresented student groups often form bonds with each other due to culture of elite universities, which could explain why enrolment in an elite university may not necessarily lead to social advancement; b)South Hadrian University - Enrolment of approximately 15,000 undergraduates, with 4.9% students from low-participation backgrounds; Participants were all FinF students; two significant themes: i) students generally perceived support from parents in applying to HE; ii) the role of first-year living conditions in establishing students' social connections - one of the most significant findings of the study; a) Family pressure - All 10 students claimed that their families were very supportive; most students claimed that their greatest assets were their parents; students' social connections (family, school or religious groups) played a role in informing students & their parents on HE issues; weak ties - 'those in passing who are more likely to convey social benefits' (Savage, 2o015, p. 132), which are created from 'chance meetings, employment or schooling' of underrepresented students or their parents could alter the students' social capital; b)Creating social networks at university - all students (except for two with anxiety & depression) participated in some aspect of university activities in year 1; in year 2, all students participated in university organisations; students' collective belief regarding their sense of belonging and establishment of social connections at the university was one of the study's most important findings - can be explained by: i) the university structure, where students lived in communities where they did their daily activities, including socialising; ii) student support - provided for every students & tutors worked in buildings where students lived, creating a sense of connection between students and tutors; 10 students were able to access social & university organisations much easier in comparison with underrepresented students from Great Lakes or Antonine universities; instead of being treated as 'outsiders' (p. 12), South Hadrian students were offered 'respectability' (Skeggs, 2005) (p. 12) through their acceptance; c) Antonine University - Enrolment of approximately 20,000 graduates, with 4.9% of students from the 'most deprived areas in Scotland' (SIMD 20) (p. 12); three students were 'non-traditional, returning adult students'; two main topics from study: i) 'social stigma of HE attendance along the lines of SES still exists'; ii)as an undergraduate, involvement in social events is essential to develop wider social networks, and consequently one's social capital; however, one's ability to afford participation in social events is often a barrier for social interaction; a) Family pressure - No participants from Antonine mentioned any pressure of enrolling in HE - possibly due to being mature-age students; parents were not a major factor influencing students' choices in their HE enrolment; varying levels of family support observed; one student's (Emma) comment - HE is not 'for people like us' (p. 14) suggest the continuity of social class boundaries, which acknowledge the financial limitations & divisions, and the invisible and continuing social & cultural limitations which block students' aspirations; b)Creating social networks at university - one of the biggest differences between Antonine & the other universities: an overall 'lack of participation in university-organised social activities' (p. 14) due to financial constraints; five out of eight students were employed & only one student participated in extracurricular activities organised by the university; three students felt like their low SES status prevented their participation in social activities at university; lack of finances therefore limits students' potential social networks by limiting their social experiences; jealousy towards wealthier peers was also admitted by participants - suggests that despite efforts to improve access, the financial divide in the undergraduate student population of all three universities has triggered 'feelings of shame & social exclusion' (p. 15) among almost all students of the study.
Core argument: In all three universities of the study, social capital amplified the impact of economic and cultural capital & persists as a mechanism to retain power & advantage by the middle class.
Implications: Universities should: i) Acknowledge the significant role of social capital boundaries in the educational aspirations of underrepresented students & the reinforcement of symbolic boundaries which dictates who belongs in HE; ii) Take an active step in ensuring the integration of underrepresented students into the customs & cultures of elite universities (including ensuring affordability of participation by all students); iii) Be willing to evaluate their respective social cultures & recognise 'points of social exclusion' (p. 17) which limit the social participation of underrepresented students.

Context: Explores contradictory discourses of WP and contestations between public policy and practitioners. WP = "a contradictory and unstable amalgam of economic rationality and social justice arguments" (p.105). Scopes UK HE landscape (1960s - 2010), through Tory policies of 1979-1997, and impact of New Labour policies - looking at language used, from "the drive to increase participation as an act of social justice was overtaken by a policy discourse which saw mass higher learning as fundamental to the future prosperity and competitive advantage of the UK" in Tory policy to New Labour ethos: "knowledge-economy, higher education becomes a potentially powerful instrument of social justice, since it serves not only as a driver of wealth creation, but as a critical determinant of life chances'" (all p.106). Currently, UK HE policy is underpinned by discourse positioning students as 'consumers' of free market - with non-participation seen as a deficit (Burke, 2009). In UK = ambiguity about who WP groups are
Aim: "to interrogate how these public debates and policies are realised in practice, and what interpretative work is engaged in by those who see themselves as WP advocates and practitioners" (p.108) - how do WP staff make sense of WP in context of competing discourses
Theoretical frame: takes Trowler's (2002) view of 'loose coupling' between policy and outcomes
Methodology: Institutional case study of post-1992 HEI; tools = documentary analysis, online q'naire, interviews as part of internally commissioned audit of practice. 94 staff members completed q'naire
Findings: Documentary analysis showed that there was no longer a WP policy (other terms used such as diversity, inclusion, equality), which was reflected in confusion in staff interviews. When prompted, staff gave multiple definition of who WP is for, and many used the interview to seek clarification from researchers. One theme: staff interviews suggested = "heavily values-based orientation towards WP" (p.110). Examples given related most to public policy and aspirations building (Aim Higher). Interviews with staff also suggested who staff considered having responsibility for WP (most saw it laying equally with all staff; others saw it as the work of a particular department) and there was 'confusion' about whether students or staff should be proactive in offering support. In terms of the case study university's commitment to WP, senior managers perceived a strong commitment to WP but this wasn't 'filtering down' and believed that other staff were negative about WP. Staff lower down the hierarchy were less convinced of institutional commitment to WP and, according to one participant (an academic) the university was "lucky to have a lot of willing and dedicated staff and individual commitment to WP that really needs to be harnessed more effectively" (p.111). Discourse of blame = likely result of an unclear and inconsistent use of WP terms and practices, meaning individual staff drew on own local/personal values and blamed 'others' for lack of support/engagement with WP. Blaming others ",mirrors the individualism of the WP discourse itself" (p.112) Clear sense of frustration within WP practitioners and advocates because of lack of consistency/ confusion messages from institution.
Core argument: "as long as the policy context and the philosophical rationale for WP remain unclear, WP practice is likely to remain the preserve of committed individuals, and, at the local level, will be largely incapable of having a sustained impact on broader institutional cultures and discourse" (p.105)

A report from the Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney released today calculates that Australia could add more than $50B to its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by improving educational outcomes for students in regional, rural and remote areas of the country.

Read the report

Context: Set in post-Bradley context (40/20 targets) - notes that 'peri-rural' (up to 80km from metropolitan areas; rural = 80km+) = obvious point to examine in terms of meeting expansion targets. Explores a youth mentoring program with Year 9 students in peri-rural area (aim = raise aspirations for university study)
Aim: To present data on mentoring program; "to investigate whether the in-group identification of school students would be affected by contact with university mentors, and whether this in turn would affect their intentions to attend university following high-school graduation" (p.31); also "to investigate the social expectations on students to attend university or vocational education and the effects these pressures have on students' intentions" (p.32). Mentors = part of 'Inspire Peer Mentoring' at Flinders: weekly interaction over 2 x 11 week terms in small groups. As part of program, mentees also visit campus twice (once per term)
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Quantitative/ questionnaire. Participants asked to estimate in percentage terms likelihood of attending university/ how much contact with university mentors. 18 participants (14 = m; 4 = f) from a peri-rural school in SA. No mention of SES profile. 10 items in questionnaire = in- group identification ("Uni students are just like me") to create university and TAFE in-group scale. Other items measured contact with mentors and on other external factors affecting likelihood of aspiring to higher education
Findings: Data suggests that mentoring program increased students' 'in-group' identification [see Slack et al. 2013 = 'warm' information], which increased estimated likelihood of intention to attend university. Campus visits did not produce same correlation. Aspirations to attend university or TAFE = don't appear to be related - perhaps a result of the framing of a dichotomy (either/or), whereas students may aspire for one, both or none. There was no correlation between university mentoring and aspiration to TAFE (aka uni mentoring is useful for aspiration to university, not tertiary education more generally)
Core argument: If students can make meaningful contact with university students, they are more likely to aspire to go to university (confirming hypothesis on p.32): "Mentoring youth with active members of the university community appears to be beneficial for student aspirations for university education, and may be one critical mechanism for rectifying the inequity in university participation rates for rural students" (p.39)

Context: Teaching is both rewarding and challenging, and in some literature is researched as a form of emotional labour affecting job satisfaction, burnout and perceived teaching effectiveness.
Theoretical frame:
Aims: The study explores the emotional aspects associated with first-time teaching in higher education.
Methodology: The study undertook content analysis of reflections by 86 sociology graduate student instructors at a large American university over a ten-year period (1997-2006) on their experiences of first semester teaching.
Findings: In reflecting on their first term of teaching, the study found there was a large range of emotions discussed by participants. Participants tended to demonstrate positive emotions towards future teaching. Participants stated that they did not know how they would feel, for instance, energised or draining, as teachers - though they anticipated the emotional exertion. The study found that students experienced a discrepancy between their expectations and the reality of teaching, with some participants reporting surprise at the particular emotions they felt, as well as the emotional exertion of teaching. The study found only one correlation between pedagogical strategies and emotions - teachers employing group exercises more frequently discussed positive self-emotions.
Core argument: The study calls for longitudinal research to explore the impact of emotional experiences on teaching generally as well as on teachers.