Abstract
When is the best time to engage high school students in widening participation (WP) activities? With qualitative data from 46 university students at six Australian universities who are from low socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds, this study explored WP’s timeliness. It was found that a) the timing of the decision to go to university can occur at any point in compulsory schooling; b) LSES students experienced the bulk of WP in senior high school, being the years after they have selected the university stream; c) students in the university stream were exposed to WP activities while those in the non-university stream were excluded; and d) participants recommended that WP should begin earlier and be concentrated in the lead up to the forced streaming decision that occurs in Year 10. Overall, earlier WP exposure that is synchronised with high school streaming processes would optimise WP activities aimed at increasing LSES university participation.
Highlights
The benefits of higher education are farreaching
The core equity groups identified by the Australian Government include people from LSES backgrounds, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, people from non-English speaking backgrounds and people from regional and remote areas (Brett, 2018; Department of Education, Employment & Training [DEET], 1990)
While WP efforts to date have increased participation by people belonging to these core equity groups, parity—the central measure for success of the foundational DEET (1990) A Fair Chance for All equity framework—is yet to be achieved (National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, 2017)
Summary
The benefits of higher education are farreaching. A university experience, brief, delivers social benefits (Norton & Cherastidtham, 2018) with the attainment of a qualification elevating the quality-of-life of individuals, their families and communities (Baum, Harris, Kelly & Mitchell, 2017). The central remit of WP outreach is to elevate aspirations to go to university among people from disadvantaged backgrounds (Jury et al, 2017) To achieve this outcome, much of the WP focus centres on mitigating key barriers to aspiration to go to university, including the negative influence of poverty, geographic isolation and a lack of educational infrastructure, which coalesce to result in lower educational attainment, curbed career choices and diminished interest in university (Cupitt, Costello, Raciti & Eagle, 2016; Whitty, Hayton & Tang, 2015). Cultural capital underpins this study, with a particular interest on the repercussions that financial and social capital have on university participation (see Harvey, Burnheim & Brett, 2017; Norton & Cherastidtham 2018; Tomaszewski, Perales & Xiang, 2017)
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