Chapter 3 - Widening Participation in Aotearoa New Zealand Tertiary Education Since 2000

Abstract

This chapter presents an analysis of education policies related to widening participation in Aotearoa New Zealand. It provides an overview of policy developments since 2000, focusing on the four Tertiary Education Advisory Commission reports, five tertiary education strategy documents, and documents related to Māori and Pasifika participation in tertiary education. An analysis of these documents suggested five propositions which are then explored: the drivers for widening participation are increasingly economic; the major focus of widening participation has been ethnicity; there has been a shift from increasing participation to increasing achievement; some policies imply a deficit ideology; policies have been influenced by the ideologies of the political party in government. Attention is drawn to the influence neoliberalism has had on policy developments as well as differences between Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia and the United Kingdom. It concludes that Māori and Pasifika are likely to continue to be a focus in policy, and that there may be more emphasis on people’s responsibility to engage in tertiary education to prepare for employment than on making it accessible to them.