Higher Education Equity Literature Database

Context: Examines the experiences of a specific cohort of adult 'return' students studying aspects of a Foundation degree online in the UK. Challenges the belief that online or elearning is a simple solution to increasing access to higher education for those with work and family obligations.
Aim: To explore the experiences of new students in the foundation degree Pre-16 Learning and Teaching Support where an online learning environment, Merlin, is used to deliver some of the modules of the program as well as learning support. More specifically, the project sought to: identity the learning needs of non-traditional learners and the subsequent implications for elearning; use the results of the study to revise the program; and provide a set of recommendations.
Methodology: Focus group (n=16) of staff (lifelong learning practitioners) involved in more traditional face-to-face teaching and learning with adult returners. This focus group with staff was followed by a case study investigation into one module of online learning in a foundation studies degree program as well as online support. The following methods were used to gather data: student questionnaires; evaluation of existing course design; focus group with staff involved in the teaching of the online module; and focus groups with students.
Findings: Students valued the opportunities for social learning, peer-to-peer support and group learning activities. Students reported issues with skills/technology; feedback and response times (too slow, hampering abilities to move on to the next task); and organisation of their own time around other obligations while studying. Most students enjoyed the flexibility of space, place and time that came with online learning; however, others missed the structure offered by traditional face-to-face teaching and learning. Access to and the cost of, technology and the internet was an issue for many students, who in 2003 often had only one computer in the home and dial-up internet service. Some ISPs charged by the minute of internet usage, also causing issues. Instructional and content language was an issue for students who had to independently decipher jargon and unclear instructions online. Students reported challenges using the technology, but appreciated the opportunity to use new ICT skills as they progressed through their unit. Staff reported the need for adequate training before commencing teaching online. The authors provide proposed modifications to the unit under examination based on the findings listed here. These include embedding skills development, paying more attention to social spaces for learning, using multiple media to deliver content, and providing additional training for staff.
Core Argument: While online or elearning provides access to higher education for return adult learners, pedagogy and curriculum must be tailored specifically to these learners and to the elearning context in which they learn in order for elearning to be truly a widening participation measure.

Context: Explores interconnections between WP agenda and English language proficiency (assessment and support) in context of diverse student population (as a result of massification). Examines the efficacy and argues for/against the use of post-enrolment English assessments (PELAs). Interconnection between WP & language proficiency = not restricted to NESB, although NESB is often focus. Issues with proficiency prevail despite entry requirements leading to some teachers 'toning down' their courses to accommodate linguistically diverse cohort [but this is not often the case; perhaps tutors are toning down marks/grades]. For students, lower than needed proficiency leads to attrition, lack of engagement, stigma, "potential source of real trauma", reinforcing "latent feelings of a lack of self-efficacy" and can lead to issues getting work after graduating (p.300).
Policy context = DEEWR doc 'Good practice principles for English language proficiency for international students in Australian universities'. English language also aligned with national economic (neoliberal goals) in Bradley Review (p.xi). However, English proficiency causes issues for native speakers too (acknowledged in DEEWR doc): Native speakers (inc. domestic LBOTE students) often not asked to demonstrate 'adequate' proficiency (p.302): "few if any students, whether native speakers or NESB, domestic or international, will come adequately equipped with the specific set of academic literacy practices they require for their particular degree" (p.303) - makes case for embedding ac lits into curriculum based on notion that "subject lecturers can reasonably be expected to have an implicit knowledge of the academic literacies and communication skills [of their discipline]... many will require professional development by English language and communication specialists to help them articulate and acquire a good understanding of [what they] demonstrate unconsciously on a daily basis, along with the associated pedagogies for their delivery" (p.304). Embedding = acknowledged as likely to be challenging and long-term, requiring cultural change; argument made that if done sensitively and collaboratively, it will reduce need for English language specialists and professional development (as new academics replace old) if embedding/ awareness raising = common place in academic teaching courses.
Aim: To consider some issues related to the implementation of post-enrolment English tests
Theoretical frame: Draws on own posited notion (Murray, 2010) of language proficiency as composed of three intersecting but distinct components: proficiency as "a set of generic skills and abilities" (grammar, punctuation, fluency, skills), academic literacy (refs to Lea & Street) and professional communication skills [prosaic, pragmatic features?]. Uses word 'skills' a lot
Methodology: Essay
Core argument: How to implement PELAs? Need to be cost-efficient and bring required improvements (p.305). Need to think about validity and reliability of assessment design (definition of valid PELA offered on p.307), but also think about the potential reputational risk/ kudos that PELA could bring: English language learners may look on it favourably (if follow-up provision also provided) or less favourably. Poses questions: what should be tested, who should be tested and how should they be tested? Proficiency can be the "only sensible focus" given that academic literacy and professional communication should be taught as part of course.
Issues: how to identify who to test? Who are the at-risk groups? Who might slip through the net? If PELA is elective, some 'at-risk' students may not be assessed; thus "the only watertight alternative is to test all newly enrolled students" (p.306) - but this would be (more) expensive and logistically complicated. Alternative to PELA (as a test) is to use early piece of assessed work as diagnostic (under controlled conditions and within prescribed rubric/ length rules). This would have to be conducted early enough for support needs to be identified and implemented. Who would mark? Faculty staff or English language specialists? Needs broad consultation within institutions: "Only then can institutions feel confident they are meeting their ethical and educational responsibilities to those non-traditional student cohorts whose interests they espouse, and whose successes or failures both during and following their studies will reflect on their graduating universities" (p.309).

Context: PG students increased fivefold from 1990 - 2005 (mostly PGT) but growth in domestic research students remained flat from 2000-2010, suggesting other growth is from international students. Issues with PG: 1) concern for social justice - "keen to ensure that entry to postgraduate research is open to all regardless of gender, ethnicity, social class background or any other such characteristic and that none are unfairly disadvantaged in this pursuit" (p.14); 2) need to ensure 'widest possible talent pool' (p.15) to ensure that countries can complete in global knowledge economy; 3) how PG/research is funded
Aim: "to investigate research and summarise findings about widening participation from undergraduate to postgraduate research degrees" (p.5) - primarily UK literature but also international
Methodology: Literature review
Findings: Synthesis shows that little attention has been paid to postgraduate access/ widening participation to PG study. Most underrepresented group = women. No significant difference in SES with immediate movement into PG study but later uptake of PG study, low SES students are disadvantaged. Ethnicity appears to have an impact on access to PG study. Academic attainment appears to influence PG study: students who get 1st class honours, study a physical science subject and attend pre-1992 university = all more likely to go on to PG study (but not distributed evenly by gender, ethnicity, SES). There are clear and substantial differences between disciplines/subjects and PG study. Section on aspirations (p.33-4).
CHAPTER 7: Socioeconomic status and access to postgraduate research
7.1: definition of SEC (socioeconomic class); 7.2: relationship between PG and SES = "substantially under-researched" (p.59). 5 studies show that SES has little bearing on immediate progression to PG study (differences in participation more likely to be result of academic attainment/ subject/institution attended than SES). However, high SES students appear to be overrepresented as later entrants to PG study (p.62 - see Wakeling, 2009).
CHAPTER 8: Ethnicity and access to postgraduate research
BME (Black and minority ethnic) students are well represented in UG but not so much in PG programs. Little is known about ethnicity and PG study (ethnicity is self-reported so some data are missing). Figure 2 shows ethnicity/research degree students for 2004/5 (p. 67). Subject studied appears to be significant.
CHAPTER 9: Gender and access to postgraduate research
While there is a substantial body of literature on women's participation in specific disciplines. There is less research on progression/transition to PG study by gender but still more than for SES and ethnicity. Men and women are distributed differently across disciplines (so while women are more represented in levels of education - vertical - they are less represented in particular discipline areas - horizontal - p.72). Women = more in 'people-focused and caring' subjects (teaching/ arts and humanities/ law); men are found more in STEM subjects
Relevance to PGCW/ equity: No initial participation rate benchmark of PG makes it difficult to analyse student demographics/ population - SES data is largely absent; little know about dependents of PG student. Little to no research has explored aspirations/ motivations for PG study. Same for admissions procedures to PG study and how students fund/ resource their PG study
Pedagogical intervention suggested? No
Points to future research agenda? Page 8 -9
Recommendations for further research
R1 A better understanding of the extent and nature of sub-doctoral research degrees is required, including the characteristics and motivations of students taking such degrees. = defining PG study
R2 There is a clear need for research into the process of applying for research degree study. This should cover how potential research students find out about research degrees and how they decide whether and where to apply (including their aspirations and perceptions of the benefits or drawbacks of a research degree). It should cover factors affecting their decision to apply and the decision-making process. It should also investigate whether there are inequalities in the offer of a place and/or funding on the basis of social class background, ethnicity, gender and so on. The Futuretrack project offers a potential model for such a study. = application process
R3 Research is needed on the mobility of students across subject disciplines and institutions between undergraduate and postgraduate research levels. There are clear indications that students with a first degree in certain subjects and from certain institutions are more likely to progress immediately to postgraduate research. However other patterns of 'import' and 'export' are unknown. = mobility of PG students
R4 Very little is currently known about postgraduate research students' financial circumstances. Further research is needed to establish the effect of financial factors on access and to understand sources of maintenance funding, the potential impact of student debt and supplementary income and employment. = funding and financing
R5 There should be further investigation of the influence on social class background on access to postgraduate research degrees, particularly in trying to understand patterns of non-contiguous entry and on the implications of any inequalities observed for the diversity of the research workforce. = explore SES
R6 Further research is required into ethnic inequalities in access to postgraduate research degrees, especially that which moves beyond description to consider why any differences arise. = equity
R7 Similarly, there is scope for a better understanding of the reasons why women are less likely to enter a research degree than men (across all subjects). An appropriate starting point would be large-scale quantitative research which compares participant and non-participant women. = women
R8 There is a paucity of research on the impact of other factors on take-up of postgraduate research, including family commitments (children, intimate partnerships), disability and sexuality. These areas should be investigated further. = other factors: family/ disability/ sexuality

Context: UK/ East of England project based on response to 2005 Regional Refugee Employment, Skills and Lifelong Learning Strategy, 2005-2015. Author states premise for focusing on education is its "significant role in enabling refugees and asylum seekers to develop their employability" (p.44), also noting that participation in education facilitates development of social inclusion and well-being.
Aim: To "the findings of an East of England Development Agency (EEDA) funded project examining the opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers with good skills and high qualifications, or the aspiration to achieve them, to participate in higher education (HE) in the East of England" (p.44).
Methodology: 'In-depth' research with refugees and asylum seekers in East England who were participating in some form of higher education. The research sought to explore what opportunities were available for refugees and asylum seekers, and what barriers they faced. It also sought to make recommendations for better enabling refugees [with prior qualifications and professional experience] to better utilise their skills.
Findings:
Some universities had adopted strategies similar to the recommendations made in the 2005 strategies, but often not all and take up was variable
Many staff were involved in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in a voluntary capacity
Most universities had refugees and/or asylum seekers in their student bodies, but information was rarely captured about status
No universities surveyed offered ways of validating/ recognising prior qualifications or experience of refugees or asylum seekers
Volunteering opportunities were generally ad hoc
Most refugee/ asylum seeker students were un- or under-employed, and many were experiencing multiple barriers to finding employment. "including: the trauma of resettlement; non-recognition of their existing skills, qualifications and experiences; poor language skills; and being under-employed or unemployed, so exacerbating their social and economic poverty and further undermining their professional identities" (p.46).
Many reported experiencing challenges with accessing correct information/ guidance on how to resume previous professional careers. The small number that had generally described high levels of well-being
Core argument: Author offered the following recommendations (all p.47):
"1 Liaison with agencies working with refugees and asylum seekers
Widening participation
2 HEIs should be asked to include explicit reference to refugees and asylum seekers in their institutional widening participation strategies if they do not do so already.
3 Actions addressing the needs of refugees and asylum seekers and their access to HE should be explicitly included in the plans being developed by the Adults Advisory Board for the Regional Skills and Competitiveness Partnership (RSCP).
4 This approach should be extended to FE colleges, so that they are asked to consider what they can do to enable refugees and asylum seekers to access HE, either in their own institutions or by smooth progression to HEIs.
5 HEIs should consider allowing refugees and asylum seekers to attend lectures and seminars for taught courses without having registered (and paid for) the course.
6 Agencies supporting refugees and asylum seekers should be asked to assist in distributing the contact information provided in this report (and available as a free- standing pamphlet) to their clients.
7 As there is no obligation on HEIs to charge the higher rate, consideration should be given to making it standard practice to charge asylum seekers at the home student rates to which refugees and EU nationals are entitled.
Specific learning programmes
8 HEIs in the East of England should be asked to establish at least one APEL (Accreditation of Prior and Experiential Learning) based programme designed to meet the needs of refugees and asylum seekers.
9 The RSCP should be asked to establish a modest bursary fund designed to enable refugees and asylum seekers to access such an APEL based programme.
Volunteering and employment opportunities
10 The AUEE should initiate an examination of the possibility of one or more of its members engaging in mentoring programmes - possibly in association with TimeBank and with advice from East Mentoring Forum.
11 GradsEast should be asked to consider ways in which it can extend its remit to provide services and assistance - collectively or as individual careers services - to refugees and asylum seekers.
English language support
12 English language support is offered to registered students and visiting academics and HEIs should be asked to consider extending this service to refugees and asylum seekers, perhaps by offering them associate membership.
Associate membership of HEIs
13 Consideration should be given to allowing refugees and asylum seekers with high level skills and qualifications, or the aspiration to achieve them, to become associate members of HEIs.
Access to university libraries
14 Agencies working with refugees and asylum seekers should be asked to assist in making more widely known the opportunities already open to refugees and asylum seekers to access university libraries, museums and certain other facilities. AUEE should continue to assist in collecting information together for future dissemination"

Context: Set in the context of an on-going WP agenda in the UK, where there is a call for 'increased access, participation and success in HE for under-represented groups' (p. 75) (HE Green Paper, 2016). Authors argue that WP 'is not a one step process' (p. 75), where targeted efforts will be required through an under-represented student's HE trajectory (pre-entry to further study/employment).
Aim: To reflect on the barriers students face to participate in HE, the measures taken by some Universities to overcome these barriers, and to critically evaluate these measures.
Theoretical frame: Not specified in study.
Methodology: Essay.
Discussion: 1)Factors impeding the progress & success of non-traditional students: a)Uninformed decisions & choices dictated by life chances - low SES students & FinF learners may be unaware of benefits of HE, or have difficulties convincing family regarding the benefits of HE respectively, other students who might be affected: children in care, mature-age students & refugees/asylum seekers; b)Low prior attainment - HE participation gap in England appears to be more influenced by students' socio-economic status: Students from low SES backgrounds obtain lower attainment at the end of Key Stages 4 & 5 (Chowdry et al., 2013; Crawford, 2012); c) Qualification routes - non-traditional students often lack required information, resulting in choice of courses/qualification routes based on instinct or peer groups; d)Financial considerations - cost appears to be the ultimate determinant of students' access of university; bursary support available does not completely mitigate financial barriers of students; 2)The role of HEIs - 'raising aspirations and educational attainment' (p. 76) among non-traditional prospective students; providing targeted support to ensure retention rates of students; partnering with schools & sixth form or FE colleges to encourage diversity of the student population in HE; 3)The role of HEFCE & OFFA - a) Two main strategic aims - i) building on the progress already made to increase the participation in HE of students from more disadvantaged communities; ii) ensuring that social background does not inhibit access, success and progression within HE and beyond (HEFCE 2017); b)HEFCE contribution to the aims - allocation of 'non-mainstream' funds to universities & colleges; analysis of data to enhance understanding on issues & concerns surround WP & the targeted cohorts; participation of local areas (POLAR), which classifies local areas in the UK according to the number of the younger population (aged 18/19) who participate in HE is another form of analysis to identify young participation in HE; authors argue that although the HEFCE & OFFA are responsible to ensure that students are given the right opportunities to succeed, a 'greater role is played by Universities' (p. 77) in ensuring this; 4)Addressing equality & diversity - a) Earlier intervention: 3 main types of intervention to: i)improve academic achievement of poorer students; ii)increased probability of these students applying & succeeding in enrolling in HE; iii) provide support within & beyond HE; however the appropriate point of providing intervention is often debated; importance of school-university partnerships to raise achievement of underprivileged children; b)Outreach - engagement of universities with prospective non-traditional students, their families, teachers & career counsellors via initiatives to raise awareness & inspirations; Important to ensure that 'one size may not fit all' in providing interventions (p. 79); c)Increasing access - not merely confined to well-qualified students from underprivileged backgrounds/women, but all students who can benefit from HE; indicators to identify students - background indicators (postcode of residence, eligibility for free school meals, participation of local areas), FinF in HE, disability & ethnic minority status (DfE, 2016), index of multiple deprivation (IMD); d)Contextualised admissions - contextual data is widely employed in making decisions on undergraduate admissions (opportunities & circumstances of the applicant's education); issues with contextualised admissions: uncertainty of institutions regarding their selection of indicators, their respective reliability & validity of use, and 'developing justifiable contextual admission policies' (p. 79); e)Beyond admissions - student support programs should extend beyond admissions, and should include the provision of 'tailored study support until the student transitions into the labour market' (p. 79) (eg: provision of term time accommodation/connecting students to role models in HE community); f)Encouraging self and third-party evaluations - should be included in the planning stage of the intervention to produce 'high quality causal evidence of impact' (p. 80).
Core argument: Increasing and widening access to a variety of courses at the university should be supported throughout a student life cycle (HEFCE, 2017). Apart from making contextualised offers, 'programme support, retention or success in undergraduate courses and beyond are equally important' (p. 80).

Context: An overview of WP policy regimes in China, USA, UK, exploring how discourses of excellence, meritocracy are increasingly foregrounded in HE policy, and how this relates to/ impacts on positioning of WP in policy. Focus of access on different groups; traditionally China = focused on rural and remotes groups; US = people of colour; UK = working class, low-participation neighbourhoods and people with disabilities. Student mobility also a significant part of the jigsaw
Aim: To "show that meanings attached to 'WP' are not only highly contextual but are also connected to diverse and competing values and perspectives, as well as interconnected policy regimes" (p.548) and to show "messiness" of policy formation
Theoretical frame: Regime theory (e.g. Krasner, 1982; Wilson, 2000): "sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures" (Krasner, 1982: 186, cited on p.548)/ concept of 'assemblage' = policy formation at level of gov't but also web of local, institutional and global contexts (p.549)
Methodology: Literature/ policy review: critical analysis
Findings: Discussion of tension between excellence and equity (p.550-2)
China: vast regional differences in quality and access. Chinese government is committed to set of 'world-class university' initiatives (competing in global ranking). Fees have increased, government investment has declined. Access to HE impeded by family background, place of residence, gender, finance (parents' background and earnings). Rich, urban children more likely to attend Tier 1 universities (1.48 times higher); one-child policy favours male students over female. Chinese HE has expanded quickly - impacted on quality. Chinese government's ability to increase opportunities to socially and economically marginalised people has been diminished because of lack of regulation of fee-charging by Chinese gov't. Discourses such as 'socialist market economy' that China has embraced and can be seen in HE policy, about HE supporting modernisation of socialism (p.556) but needs to be seen within context of competing in global 'market' of HE
USA: "relatively progressive agenda with affirmative action used as a mechanism to redress the social inequalities between historically disadvantaged and privileged groups" (p.556). Discourses of meritocracy and excellence "increasingly countered and undermined such values and perspectives" (p.557) as seen in the way that financial aid/ scholarships available to students with strong academic records/ sporting and musical ability. Research universities are elite and meritocratic (Altbach, 2011)
England: Thatcher's government promoted neoliberalism and New Labour did little to reform the marketization and privatisation of key services, including HE and this has been pushed forward by Con-Lib Dem coalition gov't - "cementing trends towards 'enterprise' and decentralisation" (p.560). Decrease in public spending/ increase in student contributions. However, New Labour pushed WP agenda to heart of HE reforms (1997). Meanings of WP = "contested and shifting in England" (p.560) and connected to student fees [similar to HECS argument in Aus: deferring payment is WP initiative bc all students can access HE and pay later]. Concentration of WP funds to outreach and access "has tended to ignore issues of participation" (p.563). Stratification of HE in England may lead to WP happening more intensely in particular kinds of institutions, "with concomitant social justice implications for students" (p.562).
Core argument:
China: binary system aims to bring together Chinese socialism and 'unethical' western market practices
US: excellence intertwined with merit-based financial aid mechanism
England: meritocratic view and embedded WP towards marketised system

Context: Academic culture in UK is "disciplinary, hierarchical, authoritative and entrenched (to differing extents) in institutional and cultural bias" (p.435), where students are "summoned to adjust their behaviour" (p.435) and have to learn to fit in with "culturally implicit norms and pedagogical demands" (p.435) - worse for low SES/ working class students. Working class is framed as deficit (culturally and linguistically)
Aim: To explore WP professionals' talk to see if hegemonic neoliberal discourse can be unpicked and disentangled. WP professionals framed as people "who work to improve the success of working-class students" by "challenging, undoing and recoding the language of WP, either through invoking the language of social class or through promoting understandings of professional purpose and public interest" (p.435) = thus highlighting the tension between a desire to 'do' social justice work while inhabiting neoliberal spaces and discourses (through appropriation of terms like choice, empowerment, aspiration and achievement to construct students as consumers - p.436). Language of WP emphasises the demands/ opportunities of the global knowledge economy and neoliberal incentives: student as consumer (p.440)
Conceptual frame: Subjectivity and identity as performed through discourse "through patterns and rhythms of speech as vehicles for social action" (p.442) - Discourse analysis: Wetherall, 2005
New Labour policies: 'Third Way' solutions (Giddens, 1998): education reform bringing together market principles and progressive democratic values - AimHigher given as example of this; 'double shuffle' (Hall, 2005): "articulating and reconciling seemingly disparate and concordant political philosophies, governmental discourses and ethical imperatives" through a single governmentality (p.437).
Methodology: Interview data with WP practitioners and managers at 7 different UK universities (collected for Burke's (2012) book 'The Right to Higher Education: Beyond Widening Participation'). 7 universities chosen on basis of profile: new (post-1992), Specialist, Russell Group (similar to Go8) and each participant phoned/recorded.
Findings:
'Middle class but very interested' - many participants emphasised social class as important factor (as working class themselves - e.g. Beth, Sarah = "generation of the discursive production of social selves" (p.443)) - also, mention of how affective aspects of social class inform inhabitation and performance of professional roles. With lots of middle class people in WP roles, it "risks becoming a colonizing project for the proselytization of middle-class norms and ideals" (p.444). Suggestion that working-class empathy is important for 'authentic' engagement (as opposed to middle-class sympathy).
Blurred boundaries and intersecting vocabularies - gives example of 'choice' - has been co-opted to create "citizens who inhabit and perform the logics and dynamics" of the consumer (p.447) and is evident in talk of some WP practitioners (e.g. Beth = 'helping people to make the right choice') which contributes to shaping of students as consumers; but see Josh for counter example.
Core argument: Some WP professionals see social class of practitioners as significant to their work. WP policy involves "innovation, experimentation and contestation rather than the rolling out of a stable programme of reform" (p.449). WP stands at intersection of number of "competing and potentially contradictory discourses" (e.g. progressive democrastic v. neoliberal). Points to a possible space of resistance and co-option by WP practitioners between policy (creation, amendment, repeal) and practice (implementation)

Context: Describes an outreach initiative at QUT with QLD Dept. Education and Training to increase enrolments of low SES students. Initiative ('QUTeach') involves university lecturers and school teachers working together to deliver and assess 4 x B(Ed) units to Year 11 and 12 students at one secondary school. Scopes literature on under-participation of low SES students (WP/ equity agenda in Australia), transitional barriers and first year programs
Aim: To describe OUTeach and report on data collected through evaluation of program in early stages; to answer 2 RQs:
How do students, parents and staff describe the QUTeach program?; and
Do students, parents and staff perceive that the program is effective in increasing LSES student enrolment in higher education? (p.7)
Theoretical frame: Draws on notion of 'cultural capital' (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977); positioned as informed by 'social constructionist perspective' (see Crotty 1998).
Methodology: Evaluation: focus groups and individual interviews with parents and students (n=26; 5 x m; 21 x f). Explicates qualitative, thematic approach to analysis (Patton, 2002)
Findings: Long discussion of benefits (e.g. making university appealing, increased sense of pride, course visits = convenient for students/ timetabling, academic writing focus = benefits for school work, access to university library and on-campus visits = well received). Discussion also of challenges (stress, time management, difficulty in balancing work-study-study+)
Core argument: Offers theorised and critical example of school-university partnership that is designed to specifically promote success with multiple benefits for all involved.

Context: Performance in undergraduate studies at elite universities in context of WP. Authors scope WP internationally; pose question - does it work/ has it achieved its goals? In UK, the OFFA WP contract/ agreement agreed between universities and OFFA = 'devolved' policy to individual universities rather than national/central policy. In UK, WP = 4 contributions: outreach, WP students (defined by each university), financial support (bursaries/ scholarship), WP criteria in UCAS offers. Offers overview of application/ admissions process (p.23-4). Authors note that WP students get lower school grades due to 'educational disadvantage' relating to personal/ familial/ community/ school circumstances
Aim: To examine whether 'WP' students in elite universities perform as well as independent school (IS)-educated students; to explore performance at A-level, in first and final year UG
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Case study of University of Bristol; draws on data collected on student cohorts who entered UniBristol in 2002/3 - 2004/5 (n=4305 students). All data analysed for these dependent variables:
_ their summed A-level grades, expressed as a points score using the standard procedure (A = 120, B = 100);
_ their performance at the end of their first year at the University, expressed as an average percentage mark;
_ their performance at the end of their final year at the University, also expressed as an average percentage mark; and
_ their degree classification on the conventional UK university system (first, upper second, lower second, etc.)
and independent variables - school attended, academic performance of school, area of residence with low HE participation rates, SES, disability, age, gender (p.30)
Findings: Independent schooled students performed better in A-levels but not in university examinations. Analysis shows that while IS students = better average A-level grades but lower Year 1 grades than state school (SS) students and SS students overall get higher classification of degree (see p.31 for overview of all independent variables).
Core argument: IS-educated students = more likely to get better A-level results but less likely to get first class degree than SS-educated students. High achieving A-level results from SS = more likely to get first class degree than IS counterparts (SS = on average outperform IS students). Non-white students = perform less well than white students and same for 'blue-collar households' (but could be particular to Bristol).

Context: Sets out a case for WP in terms of being "essential for future economic and social well-being" of Australia (abstract) - to get "'value for money'... to ensure sustainability and to record rationale behind funding decisions" (p.3)
Aim: To present the case for evaluation to "ensure optimum learning" from WP (abstract); to describe the 3-tier approach taken at WSU: appropriate project management tools; careful and sensitive targeting of students; non-intrusive and confidential evaluation
Findings: WP activities in WSU = access/ retention focused. Access = direct work with schools/colleges, aspiration raising, support (p.4): range of interventions from Years 3, 5-12. Pathways/VET program = "identifies alternative pathways" (p.4). Aspiration raising = events for targeted groups (indigenous, OOHC, Aus Rules Football
UWS evaluative approach: based on HEFCE model (?) which has 4 parts: "basic monitoring; assessment of targeting; measurement of outcomes; assessment of value for money (HEFCE, 2007)" (p.5). Beckley lists motivations for evaluation as (cites UTS, 2012):
- students' aspirations and motivation for higher education are enhanced;
- students' knowledge about university increases including access pathways, university life and career options;
- students' academic potential is enhanced;
- students' family knowledge about higher education is broadened;
- widening participation projects are valued by community partners and stakeholders (p.5)
Targeting: it is "good practice to have accurate and responsive targeting processes that can identify the focus for the participants of the project" so as to comply with gov't funding reqs (p.7) for easy completion, compliance with ethics and precision of reporting. All evaluation = via surveys (?) = all include demographic Qs "to enable accuracy, comparison of data and long-term tracking" (p.6) = standardised questions for quant measurement + qualitative evaluation collected for 'balance'. Notes that different groups may be more expensive (e.g. OOHC; see p.8)
Cost-benefit: "WP programs are subject to cost-benefit analyses by means of detailed management consideration of funding for programs based on the number of students benefitting, the perceived outcomes and the relative cost in terms of finance and resources, including opportunity costs. Cost benefit analyses are usually applied to the subject of 'economic returns to education'" (p.8)
Argues for WP on basis that current enrolment patterns won't meet Bradley targets. Concludes with "These are overwhelmingly convincing arguments for universities to pursue WP programs and persist with equity and diversity themes; demographics illustrate that to get the numbers of students to maintain organizational and government growth goals, students from LSES backgrounds must be recruited for purely commercial reasons let alone philanthropic aspirations" (p.11)
Core argument: Evaluation of WP is worthwhile because it permits managers to "highlight the success of their work" (p.10)

Context: Doctoral study and the widening participation (WP) agenda in the UK, with limited reference to Australia
Aim: review the scant literature, claim there's emergent institutional interest, set out a research agenda
Theoretical frame:?
Methodology: document analysis
Findings: scant literature, no govt policy interest, emergent but still little institutional interest
Relevance to PGCW/ equity: it's one model for how our project paper could be set out
Pedagogical intervention suggested?: ?
Points to future research agenda?: big time! on (i) access, (ii) transition, and (iii) students' experiences

Context: Uses Foucault to examine the conception of knowledge (modernity) that underpins widening participation.
Aim: Draws on Burke (2012)'s analysis of WP to ask: "Have widening participation policies contributed to counteract the neoliberal trend of widening inequalities as far as HE is concerned?" (p.861).
Theoretical frame: Draws on Foucault's two notions of knowledge: savoir (process through which individual is transfigured by knowledge/ process of learning) and connaissance (where knowledge is seen to be 'external' to the individual). Idea that subject can have access to knowledge without spiritual transformation = hallmark of modernity (see Descartes and Kant)
Methodology: Essay
Discussion: Mavelli argues that WP = part of the 'neoliberal episteme'. Two main arguments: 1) WP = contributes to idea of knowledge as connaissance; 2) WP = based on neoliberal rationalities which have turned students into "seemingly equal consumers of knowledge" (p.861), but that actually WP reinforces inequities along socioeconomic lines. Mavelli notes that Habermas made a similar argument in the 70s (about universities privileging 'technically exploitable knowledge' over cultural self-knowledge and 'normative values' (see p.862), and are thus part of the "bureaucratic rationalization" (p.862). Mavelli cites literature that notes instrumental rationality in higher education (see McLean, 2006; Delanty, 2001; Morley, 2003; Williams, 2012.) and 'students as consumers'. Notes that New Labour's vision of WP = "based on an instrumentalist and consumerist idea of knowledge as connaissance, that is, knowledge as an instrumental set of notions external to the subject rather than a process of transformation of the self" (p.862). Examines discursive positioning of WP (HE = aiding UK to compete with 'global competitors' while 'offering significant benefits to individuals' = based on instrumental terms). Thus the government adopted a market logic to assess the merit of WP policies. Mavelli argues that social justice has been subsumed by the economic imperative (p.864), which is a product of the instrumentalisation and commodification of knowledge. This contributes to knowledge as "a disciplining
framework, which restricts the students' horizon of who they are and what they could become by turning them into another cog in the machine of neoliberal accumulation" (p.864).

Neoliberal-inspired WP = focused on creation of new labels, such as 'non-traditional students' who are 'outside the norm' (quotes interview between Joanna Williams and David Blunkett). WP under neoliberal regime = to focus on psychologizing and pathologising individuals rather than collective/structural constraints, and which position groups in deficit and to blame for the 'dumbing down' of HE standards (Leathwood & O'Connell, 2003), and permits the "reproduction and perpetuation of the neoliberal myth of classless society" (p.865). Mavelli reviews literature that speaks to the subordination of 'non-traditional' students and their stratification into less elite universities (Reay, 2003; Tett, 2004; Reay, Crozier & Clayton, 2010)

Context: WP in UK as a historic and ongoing concern for all universities as they seek to maintain and increase rates of participation (but beyond 'traditional' cohorts). In UK, the label 'widening participation' = 2 decades old, but activities and underlying intentions pre-date this. Definition/discussion of 'traditional' students on p.212, as well as pre-HE context (issues with schooling and entrance requirements).
Aim: To examine achievements in WP; "to review post-war initiatives at widening participation, and produce an overall assessment, a 'score card', both of what has been achieved and what remains to be done" (p.211). To focus on participation of 4 groups: women, lower SES groups, mature (often p/t) students, ethnic minorities, but problematizes multiple membership of groups ('multiply disadvantaged'?).
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Analysis of documents post-1945 and statistics (but notes limitations of comparisons due to different ways of collecting and measuring data)
Findings: Discussion of 4 groups and 'achievements' to date:
Women: Literature/ statistics illustrate the substantial rise in participation of women, from less than a third (reported in 1957) to nearly 57% in 2009/10. Themes emerging relate to intersections between gender/discipline, women taking up HE later in life, participation of women in postgrad study. Two main points: 1) women now outnumber men in HE, but there are more men in PG study and in positions of leadership; 2) participation of women is concentrated in particular subject areas.
Lower SES: Similar pattern to women: less than 1/3 of applicants = working class (reported in 1957); however, unlike women there has been limited increase in participation of lower SES students (citing Crozier et al., 2008: 'range of cultural behaviours' = not learned by unprivileged children = inhibits HE participation).
Mature age: Interest in this group started in 1980s. Author discusses research that survey older (21+) learners; Woodley et al. (1987) found that patterns in mature age tended to replicate patterns with school leavers along class and gender lines: In 2009/10, 6% of FT students = aged 30+ but 2/3 PT students = aged 30+ (see p.219). Mature age students much more likely to study part time (often in lower status universities). Strong connections made with social mobility.
Ethnic minorities: Also more recent interest (like mature age students). Early research from 1987 (Brennan & McGeevor) found concentrations of particular ethnicities in discipline areas (e.g. Asian student = Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Science and Pharmacy; little participation in Humanities). Patterns in under/non-participation with Caribbean men and Bangladeshi women least likely to study in HE (see p.221).
Core argument: Efforts to widen participation since 1945 to women, mature age, and ethnic minority students have largely been successful. However, efforts to increase participation of lower SES students has consistently been stunted.

Context: Takes a view of WP as about first-in-family entry and participation in HE, and specifically related to working class students. Uses Sen's (1992) thinking about capability and the potential for students to become 'strong evaluators' (see Taylor, 1985) about what is a 'good life' for them. Offers a critique of WP policy as primarily driven by human and economic capital arguments. Questions the normative drivers for equality [note: not equity] research and advocates the questioning of "what sort of equality ought higher education to be promoting for widening participation students" (see p.268). Taking a capabilities approach permits the inclusion of being and doing to the dominant valuing of knowing in HE: "Equality in higher education in these terms would mean equality of valuable capabilities" (p.268). Takes three key developments as starting points: 1) establishment of Equalities and Human Rights Commission (thinking about employment equality in HE, which is an area where UK was not achieving equality = e.g. gender pay gap, ethnicity gap, disabilities gap); 2) increase in economic logics in neoliberal HE, and commensurate shifts in what 'counts' in HE; 3) the measure of inequalities taken by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission = based on Sen's work
Aim: To argue for a reframing of widening participation as 'widening capability'; to ask "how higher education contributes to the formation of a society which is free, fair and equal in the way it provides for each individual to realise his or her fullest potential reflectively to choose and lead a good life" (p.269)
Theoretical frame: Amrtya Sen's work on capabilities as a measure of justice and equality (as opposed to metrics based on individual preferences, income or wealth); Sen does not eschew human capital theory in his thinking, but he sees beyond the economics, seeking to include the intrinsic benefit of education and its social impact/ responsibility: "a capability discourse would also value non-economic ends and more expansive understandings of what is valuable in human lives and for human flourishing" (p.270). Thus capabilities = judged on "real and actual freedoms that people have to do and to be what they value being and doing" (p.270), rather than a narrow focus on achievements.
Methodology: Draws on previous research (two projects) on students' experiences of university/ learning and a focus on WP in one. Offers interview data from both projects
Findings: Working from a notion of 'widening capabilities', WP = we need to ask questions of how students are enabled to develop ideas of what the 'good life' is in reflexive ways that contribute to self-understanding: "To
develop students' capability as strong evaluators is to develop them as agents able to reflect on and re-examine their valued ends, when challenged to do so through teaching and learning experiences. Students would reflect on what is of more or less ethical significance in the narrative interpretation of their lives" (p.271).
Three barriers to the success of WP:
1) neoliberalism and human capital theory: HE = dominantly positioned as instrumental (investment in future earnings), and New Labour policy in England = appropriated the language of social justice/ egalitarian. The marketization of HE/ New Labour policy has stratified the sector into gold, silver, bronze education (see also Archer, 2007) = insurmountable tension between equity/ social justice and neoliberalism/ human capital
2) Purposive rationality: skills discourse that shaped pedagogy/ critical thinking: "embedded in purposive (instrumental) rationality, technicism and instrumentality", p.273) = dominant paradigm under neoliberal regime because of how it serves the market and performative logics; second = purposive rationality privileges success in the task at hand, rather than the goals, means, meanings attached
3) Pedagogies of disrepair (Luke, 2006) = limited access to valued 'capitals' of HE for particular groups (e.g. working class students) "sets up classroom cultures in which being confident and middle class is the norm against which all students are judged by each other and by lecturers" (p.273). Pedagogy can 'undermine' the project of inclusive and equitable teaching; instead it can expose the knowledge and power structures at play in HE.
Walker argues there are 4 resources for positive transformation/ rejection of contemporary logics:
1) point to the disfunction of human capital arguments - knowledge economy is not delibering its promise of jobs (the 'opportunity trap'; Brown, 2003) and credential creep = impacting on the graduate job market
2) Promote communicative rationality (Habermas): "oriented to human potential and actions for mutual understanding, formative dialogue, self-analysis, and transformation of ends" (p.275) = promotes 'ethical goal revision' (aka strong evaluation; aka reflexive decision making). "Thus as Sen would also argue, what matters is to choose rationally and freely, where reason is not reduced to purposive rationality and critical skills nor domesticated to serve instrumental ends" (p.275).
3) Reclaiming discourses of choice, agency and aspiration: being a 'strong evaluator' and raising awareness of the appropriation of key discourses in a way that serves the needs of the underpinning economic program driving HE = allows students to have and make 'genuine choices', which recognize "the conscious and deliberative aspects of human agency" and aspire to, and possibly disrupt, ideas of what 'life is like' for particular social groups (all p.276)
4) A promissory note (Habermas): optimism that universitites can flourish despite the rigidity of the neoliberal shape of contemporary HE; "universities ought to be defended as one of the remaining public spaces of reasoned argument and inclusive dialogue about important and difficult questions" (p.277).
Core argument: "Widening participation ought ... to be conceptualised as widening capability as a matter of full justice" so as to support the development of students as 'strong evaluators' and the development of inclusive pedagogies that teach students "to be critical and active participants in democratic life" (p.277).

Context: Examines barriers to accessing university education for 'non-traditional' students (working class, black, disabled community activists accessing degree in Community Education in this case) = 'Lothian Apprenticeship Scheme Trust' (LAST) = designed to deliberately circumvent the personal/institutional barriers that prevent participation - allowed community workers to study alongside community work. 'Non-traditional' label comes from under-representation.
Aim: To report on project designed "to enable community activists from the working-class, disabled, and minority ethnic communities to participate in higher education" (p.107); to explore pre-course and on-course experiences
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Not explicated but clearly longitudinal and qualitative. Analysis of documentation on planning course, recruitment and selection + interviews with students/ LAST staff and Trust members. None of student-participants had 'standard' entry qualifications (all = working class, 2 = disabled, 3 = black)
Findings: Analysis from pre/on-course interviews with students = thematically organised around: academic/ financial support, school experience, transformative learning experiences (non-formal/ pre-university), attitudes to HE. Themes from later interviews = motivation, evidence + experience, changing attitudes to HE.
Students didn't necessarily choose to participate in formal learning for instrumental reasons; "positive learning derived from their life experiences and associated with their community activism has been identified, often by community education workers, as valuable in its own right" (p.113). As confidence grew over time, attitudes to HE changed.
LAST offered supports that facilitated continued engagement (e.g. funds to pay for childcare, providing access to computers) = appears to help to reduce attrition
Core argument: LAST responds to institutional and dispositional barriers explicitly. Critical element to LAST = "a course that develops awareness of the ways in which working-class people are excluded from education helps to change perceptions away from an emphasis on education as a private consumer good that can be purchased on to the ways in which access to education is socially and economically structured" (p.114)

Context: Examines enabling education from perspective of technological change (modes/ media), including MOOCs. Presents preliminary research from examination of online enabling program (Open Foundation online). Argues that widening participation = driven by two drivers: federal policy and university missions. Enabling students = 15-17% of commencing UG students. Literature review = discussion of online learning (broadly from OU UK) - flexibility, more used by ethnic groups in UK, less attractive to teachers. Research suggests that online learners perform as well as face-to-face learners
Aim: To compare participation rates of online and part-time OF learners. Paper "contrasts the participation rates of mature-aged, female, low SES, regional/remote and Indigenous students in the online program with
those from the on-campus offering of Open Foundation, and with national average participation rates" (p.38).
Methodology: Quantitative statistics: student data from UON's NUSTAR from 2008-2013 from 5 equity groups: students over 25 (mature age = experiences tend to differ post-25), Indigenous, women, low SES (postcode method) and R&R (postcode method). Qualitative data also collected from discussion boards and blogs
Findings: Online OF= consistently enrols higher numbers of equity group students than on-campus offering; in particular women, r&r and low SES are well represented
58.1% online = mature age (compared with 45.8% on campus)
70+% = female (compared with 55-60% on campus): "Student feedback has consistently demonstrated that many female students in Open Foundation Online value the opportunity to balance study with caring for family and children" (p.47) and offers opportunities to take up chances postponed due to mothering
Average 31% = low SES
Students from across Australia = enrolled on OF online
33.1% online students = R&R (national university average = 20.4%)
Indigenous students= average 2.5+% of online/offline enabling
Student confidence = recurring theme
Core argument: Online enabling offerings "can make a valuable contribution to widening participation in higher education" (p.38). Notes challenges to ongoing sustainability of enabling with push to expand sub-degree programs (Kemp & Norton; see p.51)

Context: Examines WP imitative at UniCan (Aspire UC - outreach) from perspectives of teachers of their own roles at school (site of intervention). Argues that teachers are rarely drawn on to help evaluate programs (critique of CIF p.1). Argues that "At the very least, teachers should be seen as a necessary adjunct to any attempt to broaden the scope of post-secondary options for non-traditional students" (p.47). Aspire UC includes a Professional Learning Forum (2-day retreat) where teachers and other school educators are invited to attend in order to become familiar with Aspire UC, give information about pathways and 'build capacity' and uses UniCan education lecturers to deliver specific professional development sessions. Discusses literature related to aspirations - draws on Gale et al. (2011)/ Sellar & Gale (2011) about imaginaries/ capacity to imagine futures
Aim: "to examine the teachers' views of their own roles, given the importance afforded them in assisting students with post-secondary choices" (p.49)
Theoretical frame:
Methodology: Mixed methods: survey (based on 'What Works' Thomas 2012 and Gale et al. DEMO) and focus group interviews. Participants = 27 teachers from 19 schools at Professional Learning Forum, all involved in and familiar with (albeit to different extents/ lengths of time) Aspire UC. Teachers broadly mix of females/males.
Findings:
Teachers ranked most important parts of roles as: (i) academic achievement; (ii) motivation/aspiration; and
(iii) nurture/caring (p.52). Teachers ranked what they considered the biggest barriers to participation in HE for their students: (i) Availability/Distance; (ii) Accessibility/Cost; (iii) Achievement/ Academic Ability; and (iv) Aspirations/Motivations (p.53). Teachers ranked items considered to increase participation in HE; top 3 = early engagement (Year 7); continued contact with tertiary institutions; providing up-to-date information to schools. Least important item = nurture 'sense of belonging' with university. In FGs, teachers discussed what they considered/ what their students considered best aspects of Aspire UC: "Contact/Familiarization the highest (30
weighted/ 13 unweighted) followed by Information provided (20/ 11), Early engagement (14/6) and Role models (9/15). However, two additional categories emerged: 'Opening possibilities' (21/8) and importantly, 'Working relationship with Aspire UC' (45/24)" (p.56)
Core argument: "The current study clearly demonstrated the importance teachers place on caring for and nurturing their students" (p.57). Teachers foregrounded availability and accessibility factors (drawing on knowledge of local communities). Informal discussion suggested that many students do not have family support - lack of family experience with HE and desire for children not to leave community. "No attempt to expand access to higher education could possibly occur without the involvement and support of educational professionals, yet their role is often overlooked and undervalued" (p.59).

Context: Explores achievement levels of TEP (La Trobe), following evaluation conducted by authors.
Aim: Seeks to isolate and examine contextual factors so as to be able to offer insight into how strong academic results can be achieved in La Trobe context (multi-campus/ uni & TAFE combination). The study aims to isolate and examine the contextual factors within the TEP that may affect academic achievement.
Background: The Tertiary Enabling Program at La Trobe University underwent expansion in 2012. The program was provided in conjunction with TAFE and provided academic and student support via 1 hour optional tutorials provided twice a week, dedicated student and staff mentors, and integrated service models incorporating counsellor visits. The evaluation was undertaken against the background of the Higher Education Base Funding Review and the development of sub-degree qualifications. The researchers focused on the contextual factors such as campus, institution, disciplinary area, and geo-demographic cohort, which may impact academic performance. Article contains a very thorough explanation of enabling programs in Australia.
Methodology: Draws on evaluation of TEP: analysed TEP data (enrolment numbers/ student demographics/ withdrawal rates/ marks)
Procedure: Internal university evaluation using institutional data, including enrolment numbers, student demographics, withdrawal rates, course weighted average marks, and subject marks.
Findings: Achievement and retention rates for the cohort were encouraging. Retention within the course was relatively high (only 8 withdrew). There were students who disengaged however leaving 65% active until the final exam. The evaluation noted the overall academic achievement was high indicating that teaching and support strategies were effective. It was noted that there was variation in the achievement levels across disciplinary areas and locations and demographic groups. This highlighted the need to ensure consistency with entry standards and pedagogical practice across subjects and institutions.
Core argument: The evaluation noted that in general the performance of the students was high and the program 'may be uniquely placed to benefit some student cohorts who are currently under-represented in tertiary education.' There is variability with the delivery within disciplines and locations and this was claimed to possibly reflect broader 'sectoral issues around curriculum, standards and expectations'.
Substantial variation in achievement between subjects/ campuses and student groups. Relatively low achievement from Indigenous students; relatively high from NESB/ refugee students (p.52). Variation confirms "the need for ongoing measures to ensure consistent entry standards and pedagogical practice across subjects and institutions" (p.52). Retention rates were relatively high (65%); achievement levels were high (55% passed all four subjects; 30% passed all four with 70% or higher) - p.59. Significant subject variability: Soc. Sc achieved highest average marks; Science achieved the lowest. There were also significant differences in marks across 5 campuses.
Core Argument: Discussion of funding/ policy context (Base Funding Review)/ Discussion of participation and academic achievement of equity groups, particular reference to NESB & refugee students.